BOURGET  AND  FOGAZZARO  IN  THEIR  ATTITUDE  TOWARDS 
MORALITY  AND  RELIGION 

BY 

RACHEL  AUGUSTA  BREATHWIT 
A.  B.,  University  of  Illinois,  1920 


THESIS 

Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfillment  of  the  Requirements  for  the 

Degree  of 

MASTER  OF  ARTS 
IN  ROMANCE  LANGUAGES 

IN 

THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
1921 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 


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I HEREBY  RECOMMEND  THAT  THE  THESIS  PREPARED  UNDER  MY 


SUPERVISION  BY. 


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Morality  and  Reli 


BE  ACCEPTED  AS  FULFILLING  THIS  PART  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 


THE  DEGREE  OF_ 


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In  Charge  of.Th 


Head  of  DepartrHent 


Recommendation  concurred  in* 


Committee 


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Final  Examination* 


*Required  for  doctor’s  degree  but  net  for  master’s 

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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


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1 


Table  of  Contents. 


pac~G  g 

I . Introduction.  

II.  Bourget,  the  Writer 

III.  Fogazzaro,  the  Writer.. 

IV.  The  Social  Aspects  of  Morality  and  Religion 29 

V.  Conclusion..... ]_09 

VI.  Bibliography 


2. 


Bourget  and  Fogazzaro 
in  their  Attitude 
towards 

Morality  and  Religion 

I. 

Introduction 

Contemporary  literature  rill,  no  doubt,  always  exert  a strong 
fascination.  We  have  a curious  feeling  of  interest  which  makes  us 
wonder  if  this  man,  so  important  to-day,  will  live,  if  his  works 
will  he  enjoyed  hy  the  people  of  to-morrow.  It  is  with  just  this 
feeling  of  interest  that  we  have  entered  into  a comparative  study 
of  two  such  noteworthy  men  as  Paul  Bourget  and  Antonio  Fogazzaro. 
From  the  neighboring  countries  of  France  and  Italy,  we  have  chosen 
novelists  whose  high  seriousness  of  purpose  so  obvious  to  all,  has 
placed  them  well  up  in  the  list  of  modern  novelists  and  has  made 
them  famous  throughout  the  Western  World.  No  novelist  is  ever 
just  like  a brother  novelist,  but  from  time  to  time  we  find  some 
whose  general  attitude  towards  life  marks  them  as  kinsmen.  Paul 
Bourget  comes  just  after  Balzac  and  Zola,  preaching  to  us  a renewed 
interest  in  morals  and  religion.  At  the  same  time,  Antonio  Fogaz- 
zaro, in  violent  contrast  with  the  sensual  immoral  D'Annunzio, 
pleads  for  the  same  cause.  Thus  we  see  that  in  their  general  atti- 
tude they  are  alike.  It  remains  for  this  study  to  show  wherein 
they  agree  and  wherein  they  differ  in  their  more  specific  attitude 
towards  life  and  its  duties.  But  first  it  will  be  well  to  present 
a brief  expo srf  of  their  position  in  literature,  their  literary  life 
and  the  novelistic  methods  of  each. 


*7 


II. 

Bourget,  the  Writer 

Paul  Bourget  (horn  1852, -still  living  in  1921)  has  been  ac- 
cl aimed  as  the  traditionalist  leader  of  the  psychological  school  of 
novel  writers.  Now  Just  what  is  meant  by  a traditionalist?  A man 
or  woman  who  advocates  a return  to  an  old  regime.  And  in  France 
traditionalists  in  politics  are  those  who  advocate  a return  to  the 
old  monarchical  system  in  society,  as  being  the  only  remedy  for 
modern  ills.  They  usually  do  not  insist  on  the  re-installation 
of  a King  but  stress  particularly  a renewed,  interest  in  class  dis- 
tinctions; they  believe  that  the  three  classes  of  French  Society, 
the  nobles,  the  bourgeois,  and  the  peasant,  should  remain  true  to 
their  class  and  not  strive  to  mount  hurriedly  from  their  position, 
but  gradually  through  the  process  of  evolution;  and  secondly » they 
defend  the  supremacy  of  the  catholic  Church.  Paul  Bourget  is  so 
decidedly  a member  of  this  group,  that  he  has  been  criticized  for 
it,  some  of  his  critics  even  going  so  far  as  to  point  out  the  very 
definite  evils  of  the  old  regime.  But  whether  or  not  we  believe 
as  the  traditionalists  and.  accept  their  theories  does  not  concern 
our  present  discussion.  We  are  simply  trying  to  present  our  au- 
thor as  he  is  and  not  as  we  think  he  should  be.  Even  a cursory 
study  of  Bourget9 s novels  would  soon  convince  the  reader  that  his 
traditionalistic  ideas  are  the  dominating  force  of  all  his  works. 

But,  besides  being  a traditionalist,  Bourget  is  a psychologist 
and  a believer  in  heredity.  Stendhal  was  his  chief  source  of  in- 

1 

spirai-ion  in  the  field  of  psychology.  In  the  words  of  A.L.Gu^rard, 
"Bourget* s special  domain  is  the  psychological  novel.  In  this 
field  his  direct  masters  were  Gustave  Flaubert  and  Balzac,  but  es- 


1.  Five  !. Tasters  of  French  Romance,  p.  193 


4 


pecially  Henri  Beyle,  or  Stendhal.  Balzac  and  Flaubert  were  keen 
analysts  of*  individual  characters  or  passions:  but  their  ambition 
was  to  give  a total  picture  of  life.  For  Stendhal,  and  for  Bour- 
get after  him,  psychology,  instead  of  being  one  of  the  elements, 
became  the  chief  purpose  of  the  work".  Next  to  preaching  a moral, 
Bourget's  main  ambition  seems  to  be  the  logical  presentation  of  the 
psychological  analysis  of  every  thought  and  action  of  each  of  his 
characters.  He  even  carries  it  so  far  that  we  feel  his  characters 
are  types  pulled  by  the  strings  of  his  mind  rather  than  living  in- 
dividuals. But  even  as  types,  they  stand  out  vividly  in  our  minds 
and  we  feel  that  one  would  have  to  hunt  far  to  find  a vague  charac- 
ter in  Bourget's  novels. 

Besides  being  a novelist,  we  find  that  Bourjet  began  his  lit- 
erary career  as  a poet  and  critic.  Jean  Lionnet  with  this  meager 
reference  to  his  poetry  treats  him  as  well  as  most  other  critics: 
HSs  jeunesse — si,  par  jeunesse,  on  entend  inexperience  et  tatonne- 
ments — M.  Paul  Bourget  l'a  tout©  depen see  dans  ses  premieres  P@es- 
ies(au  temps  oh,  lecteur  de  Vigny,  de  Musset,  de  M.  Sully — Prud’- 
hoSfcne,  il  rimait  au  bord  de  la  mer,  Georges  Ancelys  et  Jeanne  de 
Court iso Is  ) et  aussi,  peut-@tre,  dans  quelques-unes  des  fantaisies 
comprises  sous  le  tit re  general  de  Pro fils  Perdus.  Mais,  des  qu*il 
aborda  le  roman,  il  se  montra  sur  de  son  talent,  vraiment  msltre 
dans  le  gem-e  particulier  qu'il  avait  choisi  ...  et  seneux  comme 
un  confesseur. " in  running  through  the  criticisms  of  Paul  Bourget, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  discover  much  more  than  this  in  regard  to 
his  ability  as  a poet.  So  also  in  the  case  of  Fogazzaro,  we  shall 
see  later,  as  Mr.  Lionnet  says,  how  his  novels  far  overshadowed  his 
early  poetry.  Bourget’s  real  entry  into  the  literary  world  was  as 


1.  L1 Evolution  des  Id6es,  V.I.,  p.  183 


5. 

a critic  in  Essais  de  Psychologia  Cont6Ji.-Dorc.in6 1 (1885)  in  which  he 

made  a name  for  himself  over  night.  Let  us  quote  here  from  J.  Le- 

1 

malt  re ; "Joignez  que  M.  Paul  Bourget  est  sans  doute  poete  et  ro  fan- 
cier, mais  est  pcut-etre  avant  tout  un  critique  et  non  pas  un  criti- 
que qui  juge  et  qui  raconte,  mais  un  critique  qui  comprend  et  qui 
sent,  qui  s'est  part iculierement  applique'  se  repxeoenter  des  etats 
d'ame,  "a  les  faire  siens."  And  this  is  just  what  Bourget  does  in 
his  criticism  of  modern  authors  (Stendhal,  Balzac,  Eurgeniev,  Flau- 
bert, etc.)  He  endeavors  to  present  the  effect  these  authors  caused 

on  younger  writers  and  particularly  on  himself  and  his  work.  Let  us 

2 

hear  what  Jean  Lionnet  has  to  say  about  this  work:  "Les  Essais  ont 
une  importance  capitale  dans  1* oeuvre  de  M.  Paul  Bourget,  non  seule- 
ment  par  leur  haute  valeur,  qui  permettrait  de  res  placer  entre  L 'Ev- 
olution des  lex  ires  de  M.  Brunetiere  et  Les  Contemporains  de  1,1.  Jules 
Lemaltre  mais  aussi  parce  qu'on  y trouve  les  renseignements  les  plus 

pre'cieux  sur  les  conceptions,  sur  la  mdthode,  sur  la  nature  d' esprit, 
enfin,  de  M.  Paul  Bourget  lui-mSme." 

Later,  Bourget  showed  himself  equally  skillful  as  an  essayist 
and  as  a s ort-story  7/riter.  His  impressions  of  America,  which  he 
offered  us  'under  the  title  of  Outre -Mer . and  his  impressions  of  Eng- 
land in  Etudes  et  Portraits  with  the  sub -title  Etudes  Anglaises.  On 

his  trip  to  America  Bourget  was  very  much  surprised  to  find  democra- 
cy, with  its  lack  of  class  distinction,  so  successful  in  America. 

But  he  contents  himself  with  thinking  that  the  Americans  are  very 
different  from  the  French  and  that  what  suits  them,  could  never  pre- 
vail in  France.  Most  Americans  condemn  this  book  as  being  a false 
view  of  America  which  the  rich  people  of  Newport,  New  York,  and  Chi- 
cago foisted  upon  Mr.  Bourget.  Still,  much  of  the  work 

1.  Les  Contemporains.  V.  3,  p.  340 

2.  Involution  des  Idses.  V.  1,  p.  184  t note. 




. 


6 


1 

shows  the  keeness  of  an  acute  observer.  Hark  Twain  made  some  bit- 
ter remarks  about  the  work  but  those  who  have  read  the  Jumping;  Fro a 

know  that  he  had  little  love  for  the  French.  Mr.  Lemaitre  in  speak- 
ing of  his  Etudes  Anglaises.  is  very  favorable  in  his  comment  and 

sums  up  the  idea  of  the  book  in  this  manner:  "Tout  ce  qui  se  fait 

en  Angleterre  est,  d'une  facon  ge^erale,  exact ement  le  contraire  de 
ce  qui  s'e  fait  en  France." 

3 

All  of  his  short  stories  are  beautifully  written,  but  it  is  as 

4 

a novelist  that  Bourget  shines.  M.  R.  de  Bivasso  says  of  him:  "Far 
sa  nature  emotive,  par  son  desir  de  faire  oeuvre  utile,  non  pour  une 
elite,  mais  pour  les  masses,  enfin,  par  temperament  de  createur  et 
d'artiste,  M.  Bourget  fut  amene^  a adopter  la  forme  du  roman."  All 
in  all  he  has  shown  such  fondness  for  the  novel! stic  form,  that  his 
novels  now  number  more  than  forty.  Most  critics  divide  his  works 
into  two  parts,  the  break  coming  with  Le  Disciple  (1889)  where  he 
begins  to  show  more  seriousness  of  purpose  and  a more  out-spoken 
feeling  for  religion;  his  definite  conversion  to  Catholicism  did 
not  come,  however,  until  1902,  with  L’Stape.  His  early  novels  are 
full  of  a sensual  love,  an  intimate  portrayal  of  the  affairs  of  the 
heart  (especially  of  women  and  boudoirs)  which  is  not  so  noticeable 
or  else%ntirely  lacking  in  his  later  novels.  Hr.  Friedrich  Kubner 

1.  Mark  Twain  and  Paul  Bourget  (by  M.  O' Hell) 

North  American  review. V.  160.  p.  302,  and 

Paul  Bourget  on  the  U.  S..by  3. L. Clemens,  V.  160,  p.  45 

2.  Les  Contemporains . V.  9,  p.  292 

5.  Of  his  short  stories  Le  Saint  (1390)  is  probably  the  best  known. 
This  charming  character  portrayal  of  an  old  Italian  Monk  can  be 
found  translated  into  English  in  The  Chaht auquan . ( V . 42,  pp.  350- 
360,  Dec.  1905) 


4.  L,Unite/  d'une  Pensee.  p.  59 


gives  a very  concise  and  exact  resume""  of  Bourget' s leading  novels, 
"Sein  erster  umfanglicher  Roman  Un  Crime  d ' Amour  (1886)  ist  un  di- 
agnostic  minutieux  d'une  malaiie  de  1 'ame.  In  Andre1"  Cornel  is  (1883) 
ist  da  Ziel  des  Autors,  une  planche  d'anatomie  morale  getreu  dem 
augenblicklichen  Stand  der  Psychoiogie  zu  liefern.  Le  Disciple 
(1889)  ist  die  monographic  eines  merkwurdigen  "Falles"  und  in  ihrer 
Ausfiihrungs-weise  die  rigorose  Erfullung  obiger  Taine-gola  ' sober 
Satzungen.  in  Cosmoiolis  (1892)  kam  es  Bourget  iarauf  an,  im  Hin- 
und  Wiierspiele  der  Personen  uni  Ereignisse  ein  unverriickbares  Ge- 
setz  waltend  zu  zeigen:  Cette  loi,  dans  le  present  livre,  est  la 
permanence  de  la  race.  Auch  La  Terre  Promise  (1892)  musz  als  Ex- 
periment alroman  anizesprochen  werden.  Will  er  doch  eine  Illustra- 
tion sein  zu  dem  soziologisch-psyehologischen  Problem:  Jusqu'  & quel 
point  le  fait  d' avoir  donne/  volontairement  la  vie  a un  autre  etre 
nous  engage-t-il  envers  cet  etre?  Dans  quelle  me sure  notre  person— 
naiite/  est-elle  oblige7'  i'abdiquer  1 'independence  de  son  developpe- 
ment  devant  cette  existence  nouvelle.  La  Duchesse  Bleue  (18#8)  war 
sis  une  e'tude  de  la  vie  intellectuelle  geplant  und  so  lit  e die  Wech- 
selv/irkunr  dreier  gegensSt zlicher  Kunstlerseelen  Untersuchen. 

L * Et  ape  (1902)  bestrebt  sich,  willkurlich  experiment irend,  gewisse 
Kulturumw&lzungen  in  Frank reich  zu  erklaren  und  zu  beeinflussen. 
in  Le  ? ant  feme  (1901)  hat  sich  der  Autor  verurteilt  'a  1 'analyse  d'une 
si  lamentable  aberration  morale;  il  lui  faudra  etudier  et  montrer 
une  anomalie  d'ame  si  criminellement  pathologique. . . . Un  Divorce 
(1904)  und  L 'Emigre  (1907)  sind  wiederuzn  Beitrage  zu  gewissen 
dringenden  Lebensfragen  des  modernen  Frankreich.  Den  Komplex  sein- 
er Romane  bestimmt  Bourget  selbst  als  une  suite  de  monographies, 
des  notes  plus  ou  moins  lie'es  sur  quelques  etats  de  1 1 ame  contempo- 


i.  Paul  Bourget  als  Psycholog,  PP.  6-7. 


. 

' 


. 


raine."  And  all  of*  Bourget ’ s novels  which  have  appeared  since  1900, 
Le  Sens  de  la  Mort,  Lazarine,  ( 1917 Nemesis,  (1918),  Laurence  Al- 

bani  (1919),  Un  Divorce  (1904).  Une  Goeur  de  femme  (1920),  iin  Drame 

1. 

dans  le  nonde  (1921)  etc,,  have  given  us  notes  on..."etats  de  1 
ame  contempo raine. " The  present  stud”  will  deal  mainly  with  L * Et ep e 
L 'Emigre,  Un  Divorce  and  two  of  the  dramas. 

For  in  these  later  years  Bourget  has  also  turned  his  hand  to 
drama  writing  and  has  suceeded  very  well.  Most  of  this  work  has 
teen  done  in  conjunction  with  other  dramatists  as  Mr.  Curey,  and 
Bourget  hns  been  accused  of  taking  unto  himself  too  much  credit  for 
these  works.  Un  Cas  de  Conscience,  Un  Divorce,  (dramatized),  Le 
Tribun  and  La  Barricade  are  his  chief  dramatic  works.  The  last 
named  caused  a storm  of  protest  from  the  labor  unions,  for  it  is  a 
very  definite  protest  against  strikes.  Mr.  Bourget  has  replied  to 
his  critics  in  a preface  printed  with  the  text  of  this  work. 

Now,  let  us  look  back  and  see  just  what  influence  Mr.  Bourget's 
life  or  character  may  have  had  on  his  works.  There  seem  to  be  three 
very  definite  influences,  his  love  for  luxury,  his  love  and  admira- 
tion for  the  aristocracy,  and  his  cosmopolitanism.  His  father 
planned  for  him  to  be  a teacher  in  the  provinces  and  later  rise  to 
a higher  position  in  Paris  or  some  large  town;  but  the  youth,  fas- 
cinated by  Parisian  life,  could  not  endure  the  thought  of  such  a 
long  apprenticeship.  He  tutored  in  Paris,  and  began  his  career  as 
a writer  on  the  side.  It  seems  that  this  hard  experience  filled 
him  with  a great  lonzing  for  the  good  things  of  life.  When  he  fin- 
ally became  prominent  in  the  world  of  letters,  he  set  about  seeking 
comfort  and  elegance.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  be  proud  of  call- 
ing himself  the  best  cravatted  man  m Paris.  This  love  for  the 
1.  T n Revue  des  Deux  Monde s — serially,  1921 


vanities  of  life  is  found  in  all  of  his  books  but  particularly  in 
the  early  ones.  He  loves  to  give  the  details  of  a woman’s  dress, 
of  her  boudoir  and  her  drawing  room.  His  love  for  the  aristocracy 
makes  him  depict  its  position  as  a glorious  one.  Always  in  his 
private  life  he  sought  ”high  society”.  Many  critics  have  laughed 
at  this  bourgeois,  this  great  preacher  of  traditionalism,  who  be- 
lieved that  one  should  not  climb  out  of  one’s  class  too  quickly, 
burning  his  e'tanes  and  seeking  a society  hors  de  sa  classe.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  it  is  true  that  Bourget  did  love  and  admire  the  ar- 
istocracy and  did  portray  it  to  advantage.  But  it  is  as  a cosmo- 
politan that  Bourget  brings  a wider  import  to  his  novels.  Italy, 
England,  and  America  seem  the  lands  and  peoples  best  known  to  him. 
He  gives  us  some  well  drawn  foreign  characters  and  settings,  but 
his  chief  skill  lies  in  his  all-around  vision  of  things  abroad 
which  we  see  in  his  particularly  French  novels:  for  instance, - 
his  use  of  well  placed  foreign  expressions  (which  has  been  so  gen- 
erally condemned  by  French  critics).  From  these  few  details  one 
can  judfre  that  his  life  had  but  little  real  influence  on  his  books. 
He  strives  to  maintain  a purely  impersonal  tone. 

But  how  can  any  writer  with  a thesis  do  that0  And  that  is 
just  what  he  is,  a writer  with  a thesis.  Let  us  quote  Mr.  R. Doumic 
on  this  point:  MChez  lui,  le  recit  n’est  que  1 ' illustration  de  1 ’- 
idee  et  chacun  de  ses  livres  a ete  e'crit  pour  mettre  en  lumiere  un 
fait  general  et  une  loi  de  la  sensibilite.  II  a le  sens  des  i&ees 
generales:  cette  tendance  de  1 'esprit  qui  rattache  un  fait  a la 
se'rie  de  tous  ceux  qui  l’ont  produit  et  voit  chaque  phenomene  dans 
see  causes,  ce  besoin  de  ne  s’arr£ter  dans  la  chaine  des  causes 
qu’a  la  plus  lointaine  et  la  plus  generale."  In  his  novels  everv- 


1.  Portraits  d’^crivains,  p.  11. 


. 


10 


thins?;  is  subordinated  to  the  thesis  he  wants  to  preach  and  always 
it  is  one  of  tradition.  He  is  so  obsessed  with  these  ideas  that 
he  tries  to  make  all  actions  fit  them  whether  they  are  the  logical 
result  or  not:  as,  for  instance,  he  tries  to  make  all  the  troubles 
of  the  Monneron  family  in  L * Etape  come  about  because  they  have  risen 
too  hurriedly  from  the  peasant  stage.  Whereas-everyone  can  see  that 
their  troubles  (the  seduction  of  the  daughter,  the  forgery  by  the 
son  etc.)  are  the  direct  result  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Monneron' s lack  of 
personal  contact  with  their  children.  But  whether  or  not  Bourget 
succeeds  in  his  theses, any  wise  reader  can  draw  plenty  of  moral 
truths  for  himself,  from  the  material  that  ^ourget  presents. 

We  mav  decry  this  fault  in  Bourget  but  we  must  admit  that  he 
is  a consurnale  artist  in  the  matter  of  diction.  He  has  that  power 
of  personality  which  sweeps  one  away;  that  conciseness  which  makes 
one  feel  the  value  of  every  stroke  and  hold  one's  breath  waiting 
for  the  next  turn  of  his  logical,  clear  thought.  Let  us  quote  the 
rather  censorious  M.  Albert  Guerard,  "If  any  of  the  b©oks  of  Paul 
Bourget  and  Maurice  Barres  are  still  read  half  a century  after 
their  authors'  death,  it  will  be  on  the  strength  of  their  purely 
literary  style.  These  we  have  no  desire  to  belittle.  Paul  Bourget 
and  Maurice  Barres  are  both  consummate  artists....  Paul  Bourget 
conquered  a distinguished  rank  among  minor  poets  before  he  made 
his  mark  in  prose;  he  too  can  be  a word-painter  of  no  little  pene- 
tration and  charm;  and  his  prose,  often  pedantic,  has  classical 
qualities  of  coherence  and  vigour.  Of  all  living  writers  of  fic- 
tion, he  is  probably  the  most  skilful  technician;  the  structure  of 
his  best  novels  is  well  nisch  faultless;  and  his  worst  enemies  re- 
cognize that  his  psychology,  albeit  ponderous,  obtrusive,  and  over- 


l.Five  Masters  of  rpenoh  Romance,  pp.  175-6 


11 


systematic,  is  careful,  subtle,  often  convincing,  not^seldom  pro- 
found. w Let  us  quote  again,  but  from  Jules  Lemaitre;  "son  style 
offre  les  memes  contras tes  Qis  his  characters):  il  est  mievre  et 
il  est  fort;  il  est  pedantesque  et  il  est  simple;  tout  glace7  d ’ ab- 
stractions, roide  et  guinde^  et  soudain  gracieux  et  languissant, 
ou  pie in,  colore,  robust e. • Il  est  excellent  et  il  est,  peu  s'en 

/ A 

faut,  detestable. M Mr.  Lemaitre  continues  in  this  vein  illustra- 
ting his  meaning  nor  by  superb  bits  of  Pourget ' s virile  French  and 
now  by  some  barbarism,  more  or  less  striking.  Many  people  have 
criticized  him  for  his  use  of  foreign  idioms  but  they  always  fit 
in  so  well  with  his  thought  that  they  never  seem  out  of  place. 

Taken  all  in  all,  however,  we  should  find  that  Bourget  is  a careful, 
clear,  logical  and  colorful  writer  who  sweeps  one  away  with  the  vi- 
gour of  his  thought  and  presentation. 

There  now  remain  but  three  or  four  phases  of  Bourget* s method 
for  us  to  discuss.  One  is  his  choice  of  characters.  In  reading 
his  books  and  comparing  him  mentally  with  other  novel  writers  we 
may  have  read,  we  note  at  once  the  realistic  reasonableness  and 
intelligence  of  hie  characters.  One  feels  as  though  these  were 
thinking,  reasoning  people  awake  to  the  world  and  its  evils.  And 
when  unfortunate  events  happen  to  these  people,  they  become  all  the 
more  striking  and  realistic  in  their  intelligent  understanding. 

The  second  phase  is  his  ability  to  choose  and  condense  his  in- 
cidents so  that  they  all  work  towards  a logical  conclusion.  There 
is  nothing  superfluous  in  Bourget* s novels.  For  a systematic  per- 
son, a lover  of  the  logical  chain  of  cause  and  effect  Bourget *s 
novels  would,  be  a veritable  gold  mine.  In  this  busy  world  of  to- 
day such  novels  as  his  are  real  joy. 


1.  Les  Contempo rains,  V.  3,  p.  338. 


1?!. 

Then  there  ip  his  treatment  of*  his  characters.  At  first,  in 
his  early  novels,  women  were  his  favorite  theme  and  he  always 
painted  them  best,  but  in  these  later  novels  it  seems  his  sympathies 
have  inclined  more  towards  the  painting  of  men.  And  always  in  his 
novels,  those  characters  who  profess  the  creed  of  Truth  and  Justice 
as  opposed  to  the  Catholic  religion,  be  they  men  or  women,  are  the 

strongest,  most  virile  of  his  characters.  Take  Berthe  Planet  and 

1 

M.  Darras  in  Un  Divorce.  They  are  far  superior  to  Pfere  Euvrard  and 
Mme.  Darras.  The  same  is  true  in  Le  TriD'irn  in  L Emigre  arid  L * Etape 


With  the-e  few  remarks  we  hope  the  reader  wil 1 be  better  able 
to  understand  M.  Bourget,  the  writer,  before  we  consider  his  work 
more  in  detail.  He  is  a traditionalist,  a psychologist,  a poet,  es- 
sayist, critic,  dramatist,  short-storv  writer  and  above  all  a novc- 

1 

list  with  "the  narrative  sense”  who  writes  with  a purpose. 

III. 

Fogazzaro,  the  Writer. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  position  and  qualifications  of  Antonio 
Fogazza.ro  (1842-1911)  and  compare  his  methods  with  those  of  Bourget. 
We  shall  find  some  points  in  common  and  many  that  are  in  striking 
contrast . 

Antonio  Fogazzaro  is  a romantic-realist  who  writes  with  a ser- 
ious moral  purpose.  He  is  a romanticist  in  the  portrayal  of  the 
major  affairs  of  his  novels  and  a realist  in  the  presentation  of 
his  sup  e rabundance  of  details.  For  instance  if  we  consider  his 
main  characters,  Piero  Maironi  and  Jeanne  Dessalle  in  _I1  SantOj 
Daniel  and  Hlenc  in  Daniele  Cortis,  wr»anco  Maironjja  Piccolo  Monio 


1.  Clayton  Hamilton,  A i-^nual  of  the  Art  of  Fiction,  PP .49.  N. Y. , 1918 


13. 


flirt ioa,  Leila  in  Leila  and  in  -fact  almost  all  the  leaning  charac- 
ters of*  his  novels,  we  find  their  actions,  their  ideas  and  the  pre- 
sentation thereof,  cast  over  with  a hazy  veil  of  idealistic,  mystic 
romanticism.  In  their  general  portrayal, Fogazzaro  seems  to  he  giv- 
ing us  the  children  of  his  mind  and  his  struggles.  Put  in  his  de- 
tailed portrayal  of  their  life  and  the  life  of  his  minor  characters 
he  is  absolutely  realistic  and  re  feel  that  he  h?s  Known  them  in 
real  life.  Such  a dualism  of  portrayal  seems  hardly  possible.  Put 
let  us  stop  for  a moment  and  consider  Piero  Maroni,  the  hero  of 
both  the  Piccolo  Mondo  Moderno  fThe  pinner)  and  II  Santa  pThe 

Saint-).  What  could  be  more  romantic  than  his  soul-struggle  in  the 

1 

midst  of  the  storm,  where  he  confounds  himself  with  nature?  And 

what  could  be  more  realistic  than  that  detail  of  the  scene  with  the 

servant— girl  where  he  thrusts  his  hand  into  the  flame  of  the  candle 

2 

to  conquer  his  sensual  love  ? Consider, too,  Franco  Maironi,  that 
passionate  lover  of  music  and  nature  who  pours  out  his  soul  through 
his  beloved  piano,  and  yet  finds  time  to  come  down  to  earth,  and 
build  a prosaic  trellis  for  his  flowers.  It  is  j us t this  ability 
of  Fogazzaro* s in  giving  fitting  details  which  makes  us  feel  that 
these  characters,  however  dreamy  and  romantic  they  may  he, 
really  existed  in  flesh  and  blood.  And  many  of  them  really  did 
exist,  as  Franco  Maironi  who  is  drawn  from  his  father*  Theresa  Ri- 
gey , drawn  from  his  mother,  Jeanne  drawn  from  a woman  he  met  in  a 
mountain  hotel,  Elena,  from  a friend  with  whom  he  corresponded, 
and  so  on.  Despite  this  feeling  of  reality  which  he  throws  around 
his  characters,  it  is  that  dreamy  poetic  feeling  so  characteristic 
of  him  which  dominates  his  novels. 

1 « The  saint , pp.  II  3-1.22 
2.  The  Pinner,  pp. 30-36 


14. 


He  too  began  his  literary  career  as  a poet,  with  Una  Rioordanza 
del  la go  di  Como  , (1863)  an  unimportant  collection  of  lyrics.  But 
unlike  Bourget,  he  never  lost  his  poetic  sense,  which  we  have  found 
so  dominant  in  his  novels;  for  he  continued  to  write  poetrv  through- 
out. his  career.  His  first  worth-while  collection  of  poems  was  en- 
titled Valsolda  (1876)  and  dealt  with  his  beloved  Valsolda,  near 
his  summer  home  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  of  Lugano.  Just  two  years 
before  this  (1874),  his  Miranda,  a Ions:  narrative  poem,  had  ap- 

— - • i 

peared  with  moderate  success.  Sofia  de  For'naro  calls  it  w...a  tra- 
gic poem  of  exquisite  delicacy  and  distinction  of  style,  revealing 

a feminine  sensibility;  an  ardent  aspiration  toward  spiritual  truth 

2 

and  the  spiritual  world.”  Sebastian©  Rumor  is  also  lavish  in  his 

praise  of  it:  "Nel  1874  comparve  Miranda,  una  novella  in  versi 

sciolti,  una  meraviglia  di  verity,  psicologia,  di  delic&tezza,  di 

poesia  penetrant e.  Quant e anime  buone  e gentili  non  hanno  palpi- 

tato  e pianto  sulla  misers  sorte  di  Miranda.  w Rumor  also  quotes 

the  opinion  of  Fogazzaro's  friend  and  tutor,  Giacomo  Zanelle,  on 

this  subject:  "v ‘ha  tanta  copia  di  natural!  pitture  verissime, 

tanto  calore  di  affetti  intlmi  profondi,  non  piu  espressi  in 

poesia;  tanti  tocchi  maestri,  ehe  rivelano  nell'autore  una  plena 

conoscenza  delle  piu  delicate  passioni  d&L  cuore,  ch'io  porro  ser>- 

pre  il  suo  libro  non  solo  al  disopr#  di  molti  sonori,  ma  vacui 

facitori  di  versi,  ma  lo  terro  come  un  fiore  zrazioso  della  nostra 

4 

moderns  letteratura. " Donadoni,  however,  was  rather  unfavorably 
impressed  by  Miranda  and  by  Fogazzaro fs  ability  as  a poet,  while 

1.  The  Critic,  Italian  Writers  of  To-day,  V.  41,  p.  103 

2.  Antonio  Fogazzaro,  pp.  36-37 


3.  Antonio  Fogazzaro,  pp.  43-44 

4 . Antonio  Fogazzaro, pp . 8 6-88 


. 


• 

• 

. 

' 


. 


15. 


giving  him  full  credit  as  a novelist.  And  yet  Fogazzaro  must  have 

hated  to  give  up  his  poetry,  even  though  it  were  not  so  popular  as 

Donaicni  seems  to  think,  for  even  as  lately  as  1908  he  wrote  two 

rather  religious  poems,  "Canto  dell 'angoscia  e dell 1 2 ergo ^lio" and 

1 

"Canto  dell'umiltk  e della  gioia.u  Gallarati-Scotti  has  examined 

the  works  of  Fogazzaro  very  carefully.  Let  us  see  what  he  says  of 

/ 

these  poems:  "E'che  in  quei  canti  egli  metteva  v er ament e , tut to  st 
stesso::  vi  riversava  l1  angoscia  e la  preghiera  di  cui  era  pieno 
il  suo  vecchio  cuore  e che  neso,,r,o  piu  sapevs  ascoltare  e compren- 
dere  tra  i suoi  seguaci  diieri,.  Nells  poesia  egli  trascendeva  gli 
uomini  e parlava  solo  a se  stesso,  senza  vincolo  alcuno,  libero 
finalmente  in  quel  m®ndo  super lore  dove  non  giungono  gli  echi  delle 
piccole  dispute  che  durano  un  giorno. ” Thus  we  see  that  opinions 
vary  as  to  Fogazzaro ’s  poetry  and  it  is  good  or  bad,  according  to 
the  reader.  But  in  general  it  holds  no  very  important  place.  The 

same  is  true  of  his  critical  works.  Perhaps  the  first  one  of  this 

2 

sort  is  Per  la  morte  di  Eugenie  Napoleone.  Ode  di  Giosue  carducci, 
August  12,  1879,  to  which  Carducci  answered  in  August  24,  1879. 

Vnd  as  far  as  we  can  discover  this  his  only  critical  writ- 

ing. 

It  is  as  an  essayist  and  letter  writer  that  he  is  most  proli- 
fic, even  rivaling  therein  Boureet's  numerous  progeny  of  novels. 

As  contributions  to  periodicals  and  newspapers  and  as  addresses  be- 
fore various  societies,  we  find  any  number  of  them.  Two  well-known 
collections  of  these  essays  are  Discorsi  and  Ascension!  umane.  As 
a letter  writer,  we  find  him  throughout  La  Vita  di  Antoruo  Fo^az- 

1.  La  Vita  di  Antonio  Fogazzaro,  p.  519 


2.  Burner,  Antonio  Fogazzaro,  bibliog. , p.  100 


■ 


. 

> 


' “ ! 

' ,,  , 


' 


16. 

zaro  by  Gallarati-Scotti who  was  entrusted  by  him  with  much  of  his 

■correspondence  and  who  collected  other  examples  from  his  friends 

1 " 

For  instance,  we  find  fragments  of  his  letters  to  Elena,  the  lady 

p 

who  inspired  the  character  of  that  name  in  Daniels  Cortis.  and  let- 
ters to  various  people,  Scotti,  Bonomelli  a on.  Many  of  these 
letters  are  works  of  art  in  themselves. 

Fogazzaro  as  a short-story  writer  can  not  he  said  to  excel 
these  letters.  He  was,  however,  a short-story  writer  of  t t 
caliber  and  ranks  well  with  D’Annunzio  and  Matilde  Serao.  His  two 

host  known  collections  are  Eedele,  ed  altri  racconti  (1387)  and  Idil 

5 - 

M '-rev i.  R . , "Alcune  novelle, 

punto  He  dele Uu:.  di  Ernes  Torransa.  Per  Una  foal  is 

— dQn  Ant o . sono  gioielli  d’arte;  piu  d’una  ha  concetto  morale  sano 
e luminoso.  Graziosissime  le  Eiahe  per  Mario,  ch’egli  JS« 

pressamente  per  la  sua  bambina  Maria  Malata,  e prima  tra  guest e 
Hala^ari.  Veri  guadri  dal  vero,  dai  quali  si  possono  trarre  utili 

_ it  o . 11  h 

J22: 2 ettorgole , - ^ ^ altri.  In  par e ^ } 

scriuti  r: inor i il  poeta  ha  lasciato  piu  libero  corso  alia  sua  vena 
» pi  i 2 , 

.tine  sarcasr  c . Gerto  non  tutti  guesti  racconti  ragmiungono  la  me  — 
desima  altezza*  anzi  ve  n’ha  gualcuno  di  poco  o nessun  valore.  Ma 
guale  pescatore  puo  vantarsi,  per  guanto  fortunato,  di  non  avere 

4 

raccolto  che  perle?”  V/e  might  also  glance  at  Gallarati-Scotti *s 
opinion  of  Eedele : ”11  volume  e prii  i ’ h ’or  v 

Ha  ■ ita  di  Antonio  Yogas zaro.  pw.  113-117. 


6.  I Lei  , . 86- 


17. 

una  raccolta  varia  di  epoche  e di  spirit!,  dove  ace an to  al  buono  tro 
viamo  il  mediocre  e il  mediocrissime. " As  to  Idillii  Spczzat i . 

need  say  nothing,  for  that  lovely  idyll  is  quite  well  known  to  even 
first  year  Italian  students. 

But  let  us  consider  Fogazzaro  as  a dramatist.  His  contribu- 
tion to  this  field  was  not  so  great,  hut  it  is  worthy  of  note  that 
he  even  entered  it.  Of  his  first  play  II  Gar o fan o (or  garofolo) 

-so,  he  himself  says  "’Mandero  una  pillola  drammatioa  in  dialetto: 
1 1 Oar o f an o A o s s c tra  il  comico  e il  serio.  A’un  genere,  che  mi 
viene  facilissimo  e anche  mi  diverte  le  spirito  inferiore  ma  non 

: ore  . l"  ( From  a letter  to  Gallarat i -Scott i.  IJovem- 
1 2 ✓ 
her  9,  1901) . Let  us  also  quote  from  Gii  seppe  Giacosa  to  whom  the 

play  was  sent:  "Giuseppe  Giacosa  disse  a me--c  ■■on  fu  il  solo  a 

dirlo  tra  i maggiori  comnediograf i — che  il  teatr©  italiano  moderno 

non  aveva  nessuna  pagina  di  un  piu  impress! o^ante  verismo,  di  un 

verismo  tutto  interiore,  fatt  non  di  osservazione  superficiale 


delle  cose,  ma  di  scienza  dell’anima  nella  sue  "onda  ah i e z i one , 
nelle  sue  supreme  vilta.  Al  sior  checo  Busolo  rap present a nell'- 
ar . e fogazzariana  1 1 oppost o polo  di  quelle  creature  diaf  ,ne  che  e~ 
rano  salite  al  cielo  dalla  sua  anima  di  sognatore."  And  yet  this 

play  was  not  a success  on  the  stage.  Scotti  tells  us  very  clearly 
y—  ■*--  -■ — " no  Aosso  ehhe  sulle  scene  del  Teatro  Manz 

un  ito  infe.  ice.  Il  puhlico  scgui  i primi  tre  quarti  del  hrevis- 
sir o atto  con  Quriosits  __  .one  per  la  mirabi] 

dialogo , di  cui  ogni  hattuta  e un  colpo  di  scalpello  rivelator 
rise  credendo  che  1* an tore  volesse  solo  far  ridere . I,!a  alia  fine 


della  scena,  quando  si  accorse  che  il  sorriso  era  solo  a fior  d*ae- 
1*  Lq  litn  di  .mtonio  Fogazzaro.  n.  557. 


2.  Idem,  p.  558. 


. 


- 


. 


. 


10 


qua  e che  sotto  V’ era  il  torbido  mondo  tragic©  della  malvagita 

umana  e della  morte  nella  sua  realta  eruda,  ebbe  un  brivido  di  ri- 

1 

pugnanza.  Si  ribello  all 1 * * * 5 inganno • TT  But  as  Scotti  says:”Ma  la 

SCO:  fitta  del  ?mr  1.  n Acrmo  non  lo  disanimo  dal  ritent  - e una 
breve  as i one  drammatica  in  cui  sembra  aver  vo'luto  aff errare  il  lato 
opposto  della  realta.  Rendendo  omaggio  alia  Verita  egli  la  voile 
cercare , col  Ritratto  MacM  - J o . in  un  cuore  aq.uisitair.ente  amante 
di  donna  di  moglie , di  credent© . M And  this  play,  because  it  went 
the  extreme  on  the  other  side,  failed  also.  Pogazzaro's  last 

rr 

play  ITadcyde  (or  ITadejde ) was  not  written  to  be  played.  As  Scotti 

A ecsere  pin.  tentato  dal  palcoseenieo,  il  Fogs 

scrisse  una  terza  scena  non  rapgresentabile , per  ostacoli  material! 
posti  ne 11 1 intrecc io : Iladeyde . " Phis  failure  of  Fogazzaro  as  a 
popular  playwright  is  significant  in  comparison  with  the  success  of 
rget  ' that  field.  His  success,  however,  might  have  been  due  to 
his  collaborators,  nevertheless  ust  turn  to  Fogazzaro , the  nov- 

, bl  novelist,  to  find  his  greatest  suc- 
cess. 

Fogazzaro  like  Bour get  is  a novelist  par  excellent.  Bleat  very 

4 

censorious  critic,  Eugnio  Bonadoni  says:  "Il  Fogazzaro  e nato  ro- 

- f'  in  Miranda,  dove  e il*  motive  f oi  dam 

tale  e sono  parechhi  caratteri  del:  ed  ione  r tica  di  poi." 

His  novels  are  not  numerous  like  Bourget 1 s and  can  be  counter)  on 

/ 5 
seven  fingers  (unless  one  count  Miranda  a novel,  as  Bonadoni  does). 

1.  Ba  Vita  di  Antonio  ^oyazzaro.  p.  360. 

Idem,  p.  361. 

5.  Idem,  p.  364. 

r : - o Bc/p.  z zaro  , p . 8 7 . 


5.  Idem,  p.  25. 


19. 


They  can  --Iso  he  divided  into  two  groups  Just  as  Bourget’s,,  the 

latter  group  showing  his  increased  interest  in  religion,  "Dal  pun- 

t o di  vista  del  contenuto  religiose,  i romanzi  del  Fogazzaro  si 

potrehhe  dividet'e  in  due  gruppi:  un©  costituito  da  Mir  an;  , ’'a" 

hr a » Panic le  Cortis,,  Mistero  del  octa : nel  Cortis  l’idea  religiosa 

tends  a estrinsecarsi  in  azione  political  negli  altri  romanzi  ri- 

mane  alio  stato  di  nehulosa  mistica.  II  secondo  gruppo  sarehhe 

rappresentato  da  Piccolo  Monclo  Antico.  Piccolo  Hondo  Moderno.  II 
1 

Santo/’  and  Leila.  Of  Miranda  we  have  already  spoken.  T/e  shall 
now  consider  the  others  in  order,  giving  some  critics’  ideas  of 
each  one.  "Essa,  Hal  or.hr  a . non  e solo  un  opera  d’arte.  S’ la  storia 

O 

poetica  del  momento  piu  terpestoso  e sensuale  della  sua  vita.” 

This  hook  met  with  only  moderate  success  which  rather  disheartened 
Pogazzaro.  "Dans  Daniel  Cortis  (1885)  oe  n'est  pas  a la  politique 

que  l’on  s’interesse,  mais  au  heau  roran  dT amour  que  couronne,  un  re- 

3 

noncement  sublime,  impose  par  le  respect  du  devoir;..."  "IP 
del.  Daniele  Cortis  e per  chi  lo  legge  senza  preconcetti  e non  dis- 

turhato  dalle  opinioni  altrui  un  sentimento  superiore  dell’amore  un 

4 ■  *  * 

esaltamento  dello  spirit o sull’ istinto."  By  many  people  this  hook  is 
considered  as  Pogazzaro’s  first  note-worthy  novel.  Three  years  la- 
ter it  was  followed* hy  a much  less  important  work,  II  Mistero  del 
Poe t a . Lo  schema  del  Mistero  del  Poeta  e quello  di  una  lunsra  novel- 1 
la,  molto  sent inentale  e pooo  verosimile ; una  autohiograf ia  poetica 

1.  Donadoni , Antonio  Fogazzaro.  p.  25. 

2.  Scotti,  La  Vita  di  Antonio  I aro , p.  82.  For  further  informa- 

ahout  this  novel  see  pp.  93-98--also  the  hihliog,  in  Rumor’s 
Antonio  Fogazzaro. 

• Hauvette,  Henri,  Litter--  ture  italienne . p.  491. 

. Scotti,  La  /ita  di  Antonio  Fogazzaro.  p.  140. 


20. 


1 

in  cui  mistico  raooonta  le  vicende  del  suo  amore."  After  this 
Fogazzaro  began  work  on  the  first  of  his  famous  trilogy,  The  Patriot 
locolo  Hondo  Antico ) , The  Sinner  ( Piccolo  Hondo  Antico ) , The  Saint 
(II  Santo).  This  novel  (The  Patriot)  is  undoubtedly  his  best  novel, 
for  he  painted  it  from  life.  The  scene  is  laid  in  Valsolde  and  all 
his  minor  characters  are  drawn  from  the  people  he  knev;  there.  The 
main  characters  are  mostly  beloved  friends  and  relatives,  Uncle 
Piero,  Franco,  Therese,  and  so  on.  The  absolute  realism  and  sym- 
pathetic portrayal  of  the  details  of  life  there,  are  amazing  in 
their  insight.  We  might  almost  call  this  an  Italian  Wain  Street. 
"L'ultimo  romanzo  del  Fogaszaro  s 1 2 3 intit ola  Piccolo  Hondo  Antico 
(1896),  ultimo  per  data,  ma  primo  per  alti  e profondi  mtimenti 
religiosi ; per  la  verita  de ' personaggi  e dell1 ambient e in  cui  vi- 
vono  e si  agitano;  per  1’arte  semplice  severa,  squisita  con  cui  fu 
ritratt o . 11  The  sequel  of  this  novel.  The  Sinner.  (1901),  pictures 
the  life  and  trials  of  Piero  Maroni,  the  son  of  the  protagonists 
of  The  Patriot.  This  man  shows  Fogazzaro's  belief  in  heredity  by 
combining  in  himself  the  two  strikingly  different  characters  of  his 
mother  and  father.  "L’analisi  di  Piccolo  Hondo  Iloderno  ( The  Sinner ) 
e 1* anal i si  di  una  crisi  d’anima  del  Fogazzaro.  E non  crediamo  di 

ingannarci  cercando  nelle  luci  e nelle  ombre  anche  di  questo  roman- 

3 

ze,  le  luci  e le  ombre  di  un’ora  della  sua  vita."  Sofia  de  Fornaro 
s in  speaking  of  it,  in  "Picvsolo  Hondo  Tioderno. . .those  deli- 
c<ate  human  sensations  of  pleasure,  restrained  and  chastened  by  the 
strong  religious  feeling  of  the  poet, gave  him  the  title  of  a TD»An- 

1.  Scotti,  p.  189 

2.  Rumor,  p.  69.  For  further  information  see  Scotti,  pp.  265-290 

3.  Scotti,  p.  327 


■ 


. 


1 


21. 


nuzio  of  the  Sacristy. ' " The  last  booh  of  this  trilogy,  The  Saint 
was  helped  on  to  popularity  by  a ban  of  the  church  which  placed  it 
on  the  index,  it  is  a highly  religious  booh,  which  preached  a re- 
form in  the  Catholic  Church  (i.e.  a return  to  a more  Christlike  life 
more  real  human  charity,  less  chnrchly  wealth  and  so  on).  ''Such  a 
booh,  sprung  from  *ne  vain  or  shallow  thought,  * holding  in  solution 
the  hopes  of  many  earnest  souls,  spreading  before  us  the  mighty 
spiritual  conflict  between  medievalism  still  triumphant  and  the 
young  undaunted  Powers  of  Light,  showing  us  with  wonderful  lifelike- 
ness the  tragedy  of  man's  baffled  endeavour  to  establish  the  King- 
dom of  God  on  earth,  and  of  woman’s  unquenchable  love,  is  a great 

O *Z 

fact  in  the  world-literature  of  our  time.”  m the  Nation  we  find 
tills  statement  "As  Arturo  Graf,  in  the  Nuovs  Ant -ol oris,  said  (of 
The  Saint  ) : 'Three  books  in  one:  a book  of  faith,  a book  of  battle, 

and  a novel.'"  Fog&zzaro  was  very  much  distressed  when  this  book 
was  put  on  the  Index .but,  like  the  ardent  catholic  he  was,  he  bowed 
to  the  decree  of  the  church  and  sent  an  open  letter  declaring  his 
submission  and  his  intention  of  not  authorizing  any  more  editions 
or  translations.  This  letter,  however,  was  not  noted  by  the  Index 
and  he  was  persecuted  in  a petty  way  by  the  clericals  until  his 
death.  Though  he  had  submitted  to  the  church  in  regard  to  1 1 S an 
he  could  not  give  up  his  work  as  an  artist.  So  in  1910  appeared 
his  last  novel  Leila.  "Anzitutto  Leila  e come  un  atto  di  libera- 
zione  del  Fog&zzaro  dal  mo  rid  o di  polemiche  teologiche  e di  condanne 

1.  Critic,  V.  41,  p.  10?. — Italian  Writers  of  Today. 

2.  Preface  to  The  saint  in  the  English  translation  of  M.  Prichard- 

Agnetti  ( G.P. Putnam' s Sons),  by  william  Roscoe  Thayer,  p.  XXVIII. 

See  also  Scotti,  p.  421  for  a criticism  of  The  saint . 


3. Fogazzaro ' s The  Saint  by  S.K.,  V.8',  p.  70. 


22. 


Ecclesiastiche , per  ritrovare  se  stesso  come  artista. " "Rivedeva 
finalmente  il  gran  condo  di  Dio  ne 11a  sua  universalita  e vast it a; 
nn  mondo  dove  non  esistono  solo  i teologi  e le  congregazioni  ro- 
man e , i critic i e i testi  sacri , i modernist!  ed  i sillabi,  i santi 
e le  r inline  i e as  solute;  ma  esiste  anehe  la  donna,  l’amore/il  ma- 

trimonio,  la  soavita  degli  axfetti  normali,  delle  fedi  tranquille 

2 

delle  gioie  terrestri  non  contese.”  Such  are,  briefly  and  very  in- 

3 

adequately , the  ideas  of  Pogazzaro’s  main  novels,,  of  which,  later 

we  shall  treat  more  specifically  Danisle  Gortis  and  the  trilogy. 

T!any  critics  have  considered  Pogazzaro's  work  as  a novelist.  In 
5 

v/e  find  this  'rHe  was  also  one  of  the  most  spiritual  and 

wholesome  of  novelists. . .The  judgment  of  posterity,  we  have  little 

doubt,  will  hold  that  the  pagan  indecencies  of  D’Annunzio  are  far 

outweighed  "by  uhe  sane  teachings  and  exalted  morals  to  "be  found  in 

6 

the  books,  of  Antonio  Pogazzaro.”  Virginia  M.  Crawford  says  of  him, 

...m  each  ox  nis  novels  in  turn  he  has  depicted  the  ultimate 

triumph  of  th6  ideal  aspirations,  of  the  soul  over  man’s  baser  -in- 

°'J-L - : - • * Ihis  last  is  very  true  and  very  much  in  contrast  with 

hour get ’ s characters  who  always  seem  so  ready  to  succumb  to  their 

baser  instincts  and  then  find  their  greatest  trouble  in  getting  out 
of  their  . plight . 

1.  Scotti,  p.  522  ° 

2.  Scotti,  p,  523 

3.  Por  resumes  of  Pogazzaro’s  leading  works  see  Donadoni,  pp.  229- 
265.  Por  complete  bibliography  of  Pogazzaro's  early  works  up 
‘to  If-ooolo  Vox'-do  Antics.  see  Rumor,  pp.  95-143. 

4.  Other  critics  opinions  are  as  follows.  COllison-Morley  (Modern 

— l--e, * P»  • 43  ) : "His  idealism  and  his  sense 

0:-  ~ 1 his  work.  His  aim,  says  Albertazzi,  is  to  set 


before  us  through  the  novel... the  struggles  and  passions  by  means 
of  which  the  spirit  rises  to  the  ideal  and  to  God.  And  science 
as  well  as  faith  help  him  towards  his  goal  of  Christian  morality."  i 
He  quotes  further  (pp.  347-548),  from  Albertazzi:  "'His  novels  leave 
use  more  inclined  to  forgiveness  and  to  pity  for  human  weakness,  more 
ready  with  sympathy,  more  open  to  the  influence  of  every  great  and 
noble  idea. 8 " The  Outlook,  (V.  97,  p,  572,  ) says  of  his  novel- 
writing "...a  restless  striving  to  attain  ultimate  truth,  no  matter 
what  lay  in  the  way."  Current  Literature,  (V.  43,  P.  223)  in  the 
foreword  to  "His  Majesty’s  Visit"  by  ^ogazz&ro,  says:  "If  D'Annun- 
zio represents  all  the  corrupt  brilliance  of  a period  of  transition, 
Fogazzaro  stand  for  the  healthier  and  saner  aspects  of  the  new  I- 
taly.  The  one  aim  of  his  life  has  been  to  reconcile  the  form  of 
Roman  Catholic  Christianity  with  its  essence."  Nation  (V.  72,  p.  9 
in  Fo-razzaro  by  S.K.,  ) says:  "Others  have  celebrated  in  ^ogazzaro 
the  Christian  evolutionist,  or  the  ‘credente’’,  or  the  moralist,  or 
the  writer  'corarae  il  f aut  ’ ; for  us  it  is  enough  that,  among  the 
crowd  of  dreary,  morbid,  pessimistic  novels,  his  few  shine  with 
kindly  light,  clear,  sweet,  and  wholesome."  Ernesto  Grillo  f Re- 
jections from  Italian  Poets,  p.  575, ) says;  "’Antonio  Fogazzaro,  j 
anima  argutamente  veneta  e profondamente  italiana,  sent!,  come  l orse 
nessuno  dei  suoi  contemporsnei,  la  mis si one  e due at rice  dell 'arte  j 
nella  vita.  Egli  trasfuse  nei  suoi  romanzi  puri  e serer.i  di  con- 
cezione,  quand  ’ anche  troppo  complicati  di  psicologia  e di  niisti— 
cismo,  il  sentiment  > eriergic o del  dovere,  come  egli  seppe  intender- 
lo  e praticarlo,  nella  sua  laboriosa  e limpida  esistenza. ' " 

5.  Ant onio  Fo -a? zero , V.  50,  p.  222 


6.  A saint  in  Fiction,  V.  249,  P.  236  Living  Age. 


24. 


But  let  us  pass  now  to  a consideration  of  Fogazzaro’s  life  in 
so  far  as  it  influenced  his  works.  There  seem  to  have  "been  four 
main  factors;  his  quiet  home  life,  his  study  of  law,  his  sickness, 
and  his  continual  struggles  with  his  passions.  As  a toy,  his  fa- 
ther planned  as  worthwhile  career  for  him,  the  study  of  law.  lb 
never  appealed  to  the  toy  and  he  begged  to  be  allowed  to  become  a 
literary  man^but  his  father,  thinking  him  lacking  in  talent,  refused. 
Thus  Fo.gazzaro's  literary  work  was  delayed  (for  as  an  obedient  son 
he  took  his  law  degree,  ) until  the  age  of  thirty-one  when  he  be- 
gan work  on  his  poem  Miranda  which  so  pleased  his  father  that  he 
provided  funds  for  its  publication.  Thus  we  see  that  he  brought 
to  his  work  a maturity  unknown  to  many  an  author. 

As  to  his  sickness,  we  are  not  certain  just  what  it  was  ex- 
cept that  it  lasted  throughout  his  life.  It  made  him  melancholy 
and  unable  to  work  for  long  stretches  at  a time.  Many  a hard  and 
heavy  schedule  did  his  will  power  plan  out,  only  to  have  it  fail 
from  his  lack  of  physical  strength.  Many  a morning  his  will-power 
would  be  urging  him  to  arise,  but  his  weary  body  craved  the  soft 
bed.  Any  love  of  luxury  that  he  may  have  had  is  due  only  to  this 
Physical  weakness  and  to  no  fault  of  will-power.  So  it  came  about 
from  this  that  his  books  were  filled  with  a melancholy  tinge  and 
appeared  usually  many  years  ap°rt,  for  his  strength  neither  ot  — ind 
nor  body  was  sufficent  like  that  of  Bourget  to  produce  a new  work 
every  year  or  so. 

We  see  his  quiet  home  life  reflected  in  his  works  more  per- 
haps than  these  other  characteristics.  He  was  not  a cosmopolitan 
like  Bourget  and  made  but  few  trips  even  into  neighboring  European 
countries.  Most  of  his  knowledge  of  foreign  lands  was  gained 

Sul  cA. 

through  a study  of  their  literature, ^as  Heine's  works,  Chateaubri- 


25. 


and's  works,  and  works  of  American,  French,  and  English  writers  on 
evolution  and  the  Catholic  church.  Ke  clung  to  his  home-land,  _Yal~[ 
solda,  and  it  has  colored  most  of  hi^  works,  as  Piccolo  Mondo  An- 
t ico,  Val solda,  and  so  on.  Only  one  of  his  works,  II  Mistero  del 
Poeta  has  a foreign  setting,  (Germany).  All  the  rest  of  his  novels 
are  laid  in  Italy  and  usually  in  provincial  Italy;  an  Italy  which 
he  knew  well. 

But  as  to  his  struggle  with  his  passions,  it  is  the  dominant 

force  of  his  life.  Read  bits  of  his  diary  in  Scotti's  Vita  di  An- 

2 

tonio  vogazzaro  and  one  can  not  help  but  be  struck  by  the  all  per- 
vading influence  of  this  struggle.  He  tells  us  nothing  definite 
of  the  causes  of  his  passions  bujt  we  do  know  that  the  sensual  in 
Fogazzero  was  very  strong  and  was  liable  to  be  awakened  by  any 
charming  lady.  He  usually,  however,  kept  it  well  under  control 

3 

and  his  struggles  to  overcome  it  were  usually  in  secret. 

And  yet  these  soul  struggles  are  the  very  ones  which  offered 
the  re*l  material  for  his  novels,  for  Antonio  Fogazzaro’s  novels 
arepainted  from  life  and  his  own  experiences*  Never  by  anvchance  » 
could  he  be  called  a writer  with  a thesis,  except  in  jl  Sa.uto 
which  is  a very  successful  thesis  novel.  The  dominant  experiences 
of  his  life  were  his  struggles  with  his  passions,  therefore  he  has 
Put  them  in every  one  of  his  novels,  unless  it  be  Piccolo Mo ndo — An— 

4 

tico.  Miranda,  Mai ombre,  Daniel e Gertie,  il  Mistero  del  Poeta, 
Piccolo  Mondo  Moderno,  I I Santo,  and  Leila  all  have  it.  He  him- 
self says  of  Malombra,,  ”Misto  strano  di  creta,  e di  spinto  mal  tein-  j 

1.  There  is  one  transition  setting  in  Belgium,  in  II  Santo,  but  it 
is  not  of  importance. 

2.  pp.172-188 
3. Scotti, p.31 

4. And  it  is  not  a"romance  a these”,  Scotti,  p.  276 


26 


prato.  Ardori  dello  spirito  che  lo  portavano  agli  amori  i&eali 

\ 1 
piti  eterei,  febbri  che  lo  portavano  alls  iboiezioni,  Lottava." 

r'...il  Daniels  Cortis  non  & un  romanzo  a tesi.  E * sempli cement e la 

storia  di  una  tentazione , " says  Scott i.  And  later  on  he  says  again, 

"Ha  appunto  perch£  il  Daniele  Cortis  non  h un  libro  a tesi,  ma  un 

libro  di  poesia  scritto  a liber  azione  e a consolasione  propria,  es- 

so  ha  avuto  una  influenza  sulle  anime  assai  piu  profonda  che  non 

l'avrebbe  un  romanzo  di  voluta  finalita  morale."  Of  all  these 

works  Piccolo  Hondo  Moderno  is  perhaps  the  most  striking  in  this 

respect.  Piero  Maironi  comes  very  near  losing  his  struggle  and  at 

times  we  are  amazed  at  the  very  sensual  Fogazzaro  we  see  in  him. 

And  yet  don't  be  alarmed,  for  even  then  he  could  never  approach 

the  low  sensuality  of  Bourget  in  even  his  most  decent  books.  In 
4 5 

Samar ith  and  g-otte  di  Passion! . two  of  Fogazzaro’ s poems,  is  the 

6 

same  sort  of  struggle.  It  is  true  of  all  his  work  what  Scotti 
says  of  his  poetry,  "Scopriremo  piu  oltre , nel  Fogazzaro  un  poeta 
pi&  grande,  quando  il  suo  canto  nascer^.  dal  suo  torment o e dal;  a 
sua  fede  e quan&o  non  cherchera  di  interpretare  il  linguaggio  di 
un  mondo  ignoto,  ma  ascoltera  semplicemante  quello  del  suo  cuore." 
Phis  use  of  his  own  experiences,  this  painting  of  characters  and 
scenes  which  he  knew  in  real  life,  this  writing  without  a thesis, 

1.  Scotti,  p.  80 

2.  p.  136 

3.  Scotti,  p.  140 

4.  Scotti,  p.  248  "Questo  si  ho  voluto  esprimere,  16  angosciose  al- 
ternative di  f Or za  e di  debolezza  che  si  seguono  in  un'anima 
chiamata  da  Ghsu  e comb at tut a dalle  passioni." 

5.  Scotti,  p.  249 

6.  p.  161 


/ 


27. 


give  to  Fogazzaro' s works  a living  reality  not  to  be  found  in 
those  of  Bourget.  Bourget  does  give  us  good  clear  pictures  of  his 
characters  and  their  life,  but  re  feel  they  are  children  of  his 
brain  helped  out  by  a few  general  observations  of  life. 

But  as  to  style  Bourget  is  far  superior  to  Fogazzaro.  For,  in 
order  to  give  us  this  very  reality  which  we  so  much  admire,  Fogaz- 
zaro  has  to  stop  his  story  and  give  innumerable  details  of  the 
people  round-about  who  do  not  help  out  the  main  plot  but  only  serve 
to  portray  atmosphere.  Fogazzaro  has  numberless  minor  characters. 
Bourget  has  few  if  any.  Everything  is  concise  and  to  the  point  in 
Bourget 's  work s,  but  in  fogazzaro 's  everything  rambles  until  it  fin- 
ally gets  to  his  objective  point.  This  same  is  true  of  their  hand- 
ling of  their  respective  languages.  Fogazzaro  does  not  endeavor 
to  be  concise  and  clear  in  the  wording  of  his  thoughts.  He  also 
makes  his  books  more  difficult  by  the  use  of  dialects.  In  endeav- 
oring to  be  realistic,  he  makes  each  Italian  in  his  books  talk  the 
dialect  peculiar  to  his  own  special  city  or  district. 

And  yet  there  is  one  thing  in  which  Fogazzaro  in  his  quali- 
ties as  an  author,  surpasses  Bourget.  And  that  is  in  his  humor. 

If  Bourget  has  any  humor  at  all,  I have  not  been  able  to  discover 

it.  He  takes  himself  and  life  very  seriously.  Fogazzaro,  on  the 

1 

other  hand,  as  Mr.  Raffaello  Piccoli  said,  has  a very  vivid,  but 
charitable  sense  of  humor.  He  never  laughs  to  make  fun  of  a per- 
son but  always  in  a compassionate  way.  Take  the  very  first  episode 
in  The  Sinner,  the  affair  of  the  egg.  The  marchesa  hunts  all  over 
the  place  for  an  egg,  accuses  all  the  servants  of  stealing  it,  and 
finally  discovers  that  her  husband  is  the  guilty  party.  Many  are 

1.  In  a personal  interview,  April  1921. 

2.  Scotti,  p.  281 — Also  humorous  in  Malombra,  see  Scotti,  p.  95 


* 


. 


( 


28 


the  amusing  episodes  and  characters  in  Piccolo  T.-o nd o Ant i c o , al- 
most too  many  for  the  tragic  idea  of  the  book.  Fogazzaro  sees  all 
the  little  weak  spots  of  his  home  i^eople  and  points  them  out  in  a 
kindly  sympathetic  way.  His  minor  characters  are  nearly  always 
humorous  hut  his  major  ones  are  seldom  so.  They  are  too  seriously 
concerned  with  the  state  of  their  soul  to  he  funny,  especially  the 
men,  for  Fogazzaro' s Women  are  always  . virile  and  realistic 
and  not  quite  so  much  inclined  to  the  ideal  and  to  introspection. 

It  seems  that  this  is  one  of  his  and  Bourget's  striking  dif- 
ferences. Bourget’s  men  characters  are  usually  the  strong,  vi  n_ 
ous,  sane  people  of  the  hook, while  Fogazzaro  *s  women  characters 
are  the  virile,  strong  people  of  his  hooks.  Of  course  we  will  find 
exceptions  to  this  in  some  works  of  both  authors.  You  will  object 
that  Bertha  Planet  in  Un  .Div.rce.  and  Daniel  in  Daniels  Cortis  are 
.-•ter s in  those  hooks,  and  so  tl  : ; hut  Elena,  too, 

in  Banieie  Oortis  and  T'.  Darras  in  Tin  Divorce  are  equally  strong 
or  stronger. 

But  after  all  there  are  points  more  in  contrast  and  similari- 
ty (as  we  have  seen)  in  our  two  authors  than  this.  Let  us  sum  them 

up  in  a few  words.  Fogazzaro  is  not  a psychologist  and  traditiona- 
list as  Bourget^  hut  a painter  of  reality  in  all  its  details  and  a 
seeker  after  moderate  reforms  in  churoh  and  state  based  not  on  an 
old  man-made  idea  of  society  hut  on  the  ideas  and  life  of  Christ. 
He,  too,  like  Bourget , is  a poet,  hut  a greater  one,  n t , a 

critic,  hut  a lesser,  and  a novelist  hut  not  so  prolific  a one. 

too,  writes  with  serious  moral  and  religious  ideas  hut  without 
a thesis  and  in  a style  more  humorous  hut  less  concise  than  that 
of  Bourget.  He,  too,  is  a painter  of  love  a less  sensual  love 
than  that  of  Bourget,  for  he  looks  upon  love  as  a purifying  influ- 


. 


ence  and  believes  that  a love  unsatisfied  here  on  earth  will  find 
its  complete  reward  in  heaven.  After  all  their  main  points  of  re- 
semblance lie  in  the  fact  that  both  are  seeking  to  teach  the  world 
higher  morals  and  a renewed  interest  in  religion.  Under  this  con- 
sideration we  shall  now  compare  them  more  specifically. 

IV. 


fhe  Social  Aspects  of  Morality  and  Religion. 

In  this  chapter  we  shall  endeavor  to  point  out  first  the  moral 
ideas  and  then  the  religious  ideas  of  our  authors.  We  shall  soon 
see  that  Bourget  tends  more  towards  the  moral  and  Fogaszaro  to  the 
religious  side  of  lire.  Beth,  however , think  that  religion  should 
be  the  guiding  principle  of  morality. 

^ But,  just  what  does  this  word  morality  mean?  Prof.  3.  P.  Sher- 
man says:  "Morality  is  a system  of  conduct."  But  let  us  look  fur- 
ther for  more  complete  definitions.  "’Egoistic  ethics,  taking  its 
premises  from  egoistic  psychology,  defines  morality  as  the  intelli- 
=nt  pursuit  of  that  which  instinct  compels  us  to  pursue,  as  the 
rational  pursuit  of  pleasure  and  avoidance  of  pain,  although  it 
tries  to  show  that  |uch  morality  is  compatible  with. . . unselfish- 
ness.’ ’ . Oudrard  defines  it  thus:  "Morality  consists  in  induc- 

ing the  individual  to  sacrifice  his  immediate  satisfaction  for  the 


sake  of  distant  advantages  which  may  be  deferred  till  after  his 
denth  and  may  not  even  accrue  to  himself  personnally  at  all.  In 
terms  ox  strict  individualism,  it  does  not  always  pay:  nay,  it 
1.  In  an  interview,  April  1921 

~ --ror.  Diet,  of  Pol.  Scon,  found  in  V/ebster's  Hew  Interna- 
lliwxl  U'iotl'  . Springfield,  Mass.  1218 

v • five  T asters  of  French  P.omiance.  p.  200 


- 


30. 

be  called  an  elaborate  system  of  cheating  mankind  in  detail  for  the 

1 

good  of  the  whole.”  later  he  says:  "Moral  discipline  cannot  be 
maintained  except  as  the  result  of  a slowly  changing,  overwhelming 
tradition--except  as  a beneficent  predjudice,  whose  sole  justifica- 
tion is  that, on  the  whole  and  in  the  long  run,  it  is  beneficent." 

In  his  book.  On  Right  and  V.ronx.  Lilly  says" ... 'beauty  and  morali- 
ty spring  from  the  same  eternal  fount:  they  are  expressions  of  the 

same  immutable  truth:  they  are  different  sides  or  aspects  of  the 

2 

same  thin?;  of  reason,  order,  harmony,  right.'"  Gavour  tersely 

puts  it  thus,  " 'Hicordatevi  che  il  mondo  morale  e sottocosto  a leg- 

3 

gi  analoghe  a quelle  del  mondo  fisieo.'”  "He,  (BourgetJ  himself, 
says,  "A  writer  worthy  to  hold  a pen  has,  as  his  first  and  last  re- 
quirement to  be  a moralist.  The  moralist  is  the  man  who  shows  life 
as  it  is,  with  its  profound  lessons  of  secret  expiation  which  are 

everywhere  imprinted.  To  have  shown  the  rancor  of  vice  is  to  have 

4 

been  a moralist.'”  At  another  time  we  find  him  defining  a mora- 
list and  distinguishing  him  from  a psychologist  in  this  manner : 

” ' Le  moralists,  dit-il,  est  tres  voisin  iu  psychologue  par  l'objet 

de  son  e'tude,  car  l'un  et  1 'autre  est  curieux  d'atteindre  les 
arriere-fonds  de  l'ame  et  veut  connaitre  les  mobiles  des  actions 
des  hommes.  Mais  au  psychologue  cette  curiosite  suffit.  Cette 

connaissance  a sa  fin  en  elle-meme . . . II  voit  la  naissanee  des  idees, 
leur  developpement , leur  combinaison,  les  impressions  des  sens  a- 

boutir  a des  emotions  et  a des  raisonnements , les  etats  de  con- 
science toujours  en  voie  de  se  faire  et  de  se  defaire,  une  com- 
pliqu^set  changeante  vegetation  de  l'escrit  et  du  coeur.  Vainement 

1.  p.  201 

2*  Nineteenth  Century.  V.  27,  p.  978;  An  Atheist's  Pupil  by  W.S.  Lil^ 

3.  Fogazzaro,  Discorsi . p.  243 

4.  Bacourt,  p.  2253  c. 


- 


; 


. 


■ 

■ 


. 


31 


1 


1®  moralist e declare  certains  de  ces  4~t at s de  conscience  criminels 

cerl  ines  de  ces  complications  meprisables,  cert;:.:  I - 

rents , halssables , A peine  si  le  psycholovue  entend  ce  que  siynifie 

on  crime,  on  mepris,  on  indignation. . .Mgme  il  se  complalt  d la  de-. 

scrip bi on  des  etats  dangereux  de  lTa  q i 

il  se  del  s a comprendre  les  actions  scelerates,  si  c 

revelent  nne  nature  • et  si  le  travail  pi'ofond  auf elles 

ent  Ini  ] arait  singnlier.  En  nn  -o , : 

lyse  enlement  pour  analyser,  et  le  moralist e analyse  afin  de  jngeri*1 

After  studying  these  men,  hoth  of  whom  are  moralists  under  the 

above  conception,  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  basis  of 

2 

their  moral  ideas  is  the  Mosaic  lav;  enlarged  and  made  clearer  by  the 

life  and  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ.  Bourget , however,  has  modified 

oh-.-  poin t o„.  vie1.;  tnereo^. , so  that  he  sees  morality  more  in  relation 

to  sins  against  tradition  and  the  family.  Fogasza.ro,  on  the  other 

hand,  believes  true  moral  regeneration  to  lie  in  a return  of  indivi— 

. 3 

duals  to  the  teachings  and  examples  of  Christ.  Flam ini  says  this  of 

Fogazzaro:  "Conversai  mo  o.  Its  cose,  ed  a.  .o'  . d’arte,  il 

politica  e di  religions.  Quale  nei  libri,  tale  nella  vita:  armato 
d una  — s e invitta  nenla  virtu  elevatrice  e purificatrice  dell* idea- 
ls ; fermo  nel  proposito  di  munire  le  anime  della  piu  valida  e sal- 
volonta  del  bene,  dTuna  forza  interiore  che  agi  . ore  molla  e 
come  freno;  acceso  d’un  grande  ardore  di  benefizio,  d’un  desiderio 
fervoroso  di  mondare  chi  aneli  all 1 alto  da  ogni  scoria  o squama  dTis- 
tinti  men  degni , di  plasr.arlo  nell’interno  se condo  una  superiore  i- 
dea  di  bellezza  spirituals .n  For  Bourget,  Jean  Monneron,  the  hero  of 

1 * ’ ‘ ^ ’ * " - - '■  - , V . 3 , 

2*  Bible,  Exodus . XX-XXIII. 

^ucti  c Critici.  p.  70, 


. 


■ 


32 


of  L1  IS  tape  t speaks  thus,  M,En  morale,  touts  doctrine  qui  n'est  pas 
aussi  ancienne  que  la  societe  est  une  erreur.  Gar  la  socie'W  n'est 
pas  une  creation  conventionnelle  de  1 1 honrnie , c’est  un  ph6nomene  de 
nature  et  qui  exists  d'apr^s  des  lois  inte'rieures  que  nous  devons 
constater,  pour  nous  y'  soureettre.’" 

This  is  a splendid  definition  of  Bourget's  attitude  towards 
morals,  which  is  traditionalistic.  We  shall  first  discuss  his  and 
Fogazzaro's  works  from  that  standpoint,  passing  from  thence  to  the 
family  and  its  evils  (faults  of  tradition,  education,  marriage, 
love  and  its  evils,  divorce  and  free  union),  and  lastly  discussing 
the  minor  or  individual  vices,  (as  lying,  hypocrisy,  stealing 
gambling,  pride,  selfishness,  egotism,  ambition,  self  analysis, 
duty,  responsibility,  conscience,  injustice , gossip  and  finally  the 
lack  of  charity  and  mercy).  We  shall  then  take  morality  from  the 
standpoint  of  religion  and  then  pass  to  a more  specific  considera- 
tion of  the  attitude  of  Bourget  and  Fogazzaro  to  religion. 

Let  us  turn  back  now  to  Bourget’s  ideas  of  tradition.  For 
him  we  should  not  say  "Philosophy  is  the  guide  of  life,"  but  rather 
tradition.  He  first  applies  it  to  class  distinction  and  then  to 
the  family.  We  feel  he  would  apply  it  specifically  to  the  nation 
if  he  but  dared,  for  he  is  a royalist  and  very  anti-democratic, 
in  so  far.  as  his  own  country  is  concerned.  For  him  all  society  is 
divided  into  three  classes:  the  aristocrats,  the  bourgeois,  and 
the  peasants.  Any  intermingling  of  those  classes  and  any  overstep- 
ping of  their  accurately  defined  limits  is  wrong . Over  and  over  he 

declares  that  bourgeoisie  and  aristocracy  should  not  intermarry. 

2 

In  L 'Emigre'  he  makes  Lime.  Olier  refuse  to  marry  Landri  because  she 


1.  L’Ftape.  p.  125 

2.  p.  21 


' 


. 


. 

. 


33 


1 

is  a bourgeoise  and  he  an  aristocrat.  Landri's  father,  also,  feels 
that  the  duties  of  a noble,  what  he  owes  his  fiefs  and  his  respon- 
sibility to  his  country  to  keep  his  family  tree  unsullied,  are  suf- 
ficent  to  keep  him  from  marrying  a bourgeoise.  Always  Landri  had 
found  trouble  because  of  his  name.  France  doesn’t  ne6d  the  aristo- 
crats, today,  so  they  are  forced  into  idleness  or  the  army.  Landri 
had  chosen  the  army,  and  found  his  name  brought  trouble  there  from 
his  superior  officer,  a bourgeois.  And  yet  his  father  constantly 
impresses  him  with  the  duties  of  his  name.  "Son  nom?  C'est  un  her- 
itage qu’un  nom,  ofast  une  propriete',  personnelle  a la  iois  et  col- 
lective. II  appartient  a celui  qui  le  porte,  et Na  eeux  qui  l’ont 

2 

porte^  ou  qui  le  porteront.  Tous  sont  solidaires  en  lui."  Bour- 

3 

get  seems  politely  sorry  that  the  aristocracy  are  in  an  era  where 
they  are  so  condemned,  but  he  still  persists  that  they  should  keep 
their  name  and  family  pure.  Clavier’s  dream,  however,  is  Bourget’s 
dream:  "'le  Boi  revenu,  la  Resolution  refoule^,  nos  maisons  re- 
staurees,  I'Eglise  triomphante,  la  France  regeneree  et  reprenant , 
avec  ses  traditions,  ses  frontieres  naturelles,  sa  place  en  Europe, 
...que  de  songesi'"  Poor,  poor  M.  Bourget,  v/here  would  he  have  been 
had  this  dream  come  true?  He,  a "petit  bourgeois"  who  had  mounted, 
oh  so  hurriedly,  to  wealth  and  position?  Fogazzaro  has  no  such 
ideas  in  his  works.  The  marehesa  in  The  Patriot  does  make  obiec- 
tions  to  Franco’s  marrying  Luisa,  but  her  real  reason  is  not  that 
Luisa  is  not  an  aristocrat  but  that  Luisa  is  not  an  heiress,  for 
she  fears  to  lose  some  of  her  precious  dollars.  Once  in  The  Sinner 
he  shows  how  aristocrats  through  respect  of  their  class  refuse  to 

T.  pp.  79-8 w 

2.  L1 2 3  Emigre*,  p.  204 


3.  L 'Emigre',  p.  397 


. 


• 

34 


gossip  about  a member  of  it,  to  an  outsider.  "It  must  also  be  ad- 
mitted that  although  they  were  neither  related  to  nor  intimate  with 
the  Scremins  they  nevertheless  felt  bound  by  a common  tie  of  caste 
to  those  nobles  of  an  ancient  race,  therefore  the  Prefect’s  some- 
what disrespectful  tone  had  troubled  them,  and  they  had  felt,  as 
it  were,  the  recoil  of  that  blow  aimed  at  the  aristocratic  estab- 
lishment, from  whence,  although  they  feigned  indifference,  they  in 

1 

reality  derived  no  small  amount  of  secret  and  intense  satisfaction'.’ 

Some  two  or  three  other  brief  references  to  the  aristocracy  would 

be  all  the  space  Fogazzaro  thought  this  subject  worthy  of,  while 

Bourget’s  books  ar6  fairly  flooded  with  the  necessity  for  class 

distinction  and  the  evils  that  result  from  lack  of  it.  Before  we 

pass  to  a consideration  of  tradition  in  reference  to  the  family, 

£ 

let  us  give  Mr.  Louis  Bertrand’s  idea  of  traditionalism  in  Bourget’s 
works : "Certains  avaient  nie  la  famille  et  meme  la  race.  Lui , il 
ecrit  Un  Divorce.  L’Etape . L1 2 * Emigre* pour  montrer  le  dedale  de  con- 
traditions,  1 ' enchainement  de  difficultes  inextr icables  et  de  trag- 
edies  domestiques,  les  morts  enfin,  les  dissolutions  irremediables 
auxquelles  est  expose  une  socie'te  par  1 'affaissement  de  ces  re^ali- 

t / ' /, 

tes  antiques  et  venerables.  Dans  Cosmopolis. . .il  reprend  la  meme 
demonstration  pour  1’idee  de  patrie.  Dans  Le  Disciple,  il  avait 

d^ja  restaure^  avec  l'ide^e  de  liberte^ morale , celle  de  responsabil- 

• le 

ite".  Dans  Demon  de  Midi,  il  affirme  la  ne'e e s s i t e d'une  discipline, 
de  1' esprit  et  des  moeurs,  et  consequemment , d’une  autorite7  super- 
ieure  a toute  discussion,  d'un  magistlre  infaillible  qui  regie  cette 
discipline.  Dans  Le  Sens  de  la  mort.  il  institue  une  experience, 

lT^he  Sinner,  p.  12 

2.  Kevue  des  deux  monies.  Dec.  15,  19£0 — L’ Oeuvre  de  M.  Paul  Bour- 

get  by  Louis  Bertrand,  p.  743 


■ 

■ 


. 


. 


' 


35. 

qui,  en  face  des  droits  de  la  raison,  legitime  une  fois  de  plus  les 
droits  de  la  foi.... Cette  ide^e  que  la  vie  humaine  n'est  possible  et 
le  monde  habitable  qu'a  la  condition  de  le  nier  elle-meme  par  le 
sacrifice,  que  la  re'alitef  est  absurde  sans  le  mystbre  qui  para'ft 

f A 

l'absurdite  meme  et  qui  pourtant  lui  donne  I'unique  sens  possible..., 
on  peut  dire  que  1' oeuvre  entiere  de  M.  Paul  Bourget  ne  fait  que 
nous  representer  sous  une  forme  dramatique  la  necessite^  social  de 
l'ordre  de  1 "autorite^  des  aristocraties  permanentes  et  tradition- 

A / 

nelles,...le  role  vital  des  elites." 

The  family  is  Bourget's  main  point  of  stress.  There  are  two 
reasons  for  the  evils  of  a family;  one  is  the  overstepping  of  class 
bounds  and  the  other  is  individualism  (a  word  abhorred  by  Bourget). 
He  lays  all  the  evils  that  come  to  the  Hornier on  family  at  these  two 
doors.  The  Monnerons  had  been  peasants  but  had  pushed  out  into  the 
bourgeoisie  and  Mr.  Monneron  had  become  a professor.  His  eldest 
son,  Antoine,  steals  and  forges  checks,  his  youngest  son  reads  im- 
moral stories  and  is  a regular  little  rascal;  his  daughter  has  been 
seduced  by  a young  nobleman;  but  his  other  son  Jean  is  saved  from 
such  evils  by  a realization  that  his  family  is  hors  de  son  milieu, 
has  brhle''  une  e'tape  too  hurriedly.  How  absurd!  you  say.  Yes,  but 
M.  Bourget  takes  it  all  very  seriously.  Hear  him  discuss  it: 

""Cette  famille  Monneron  a commis  une  premiere  faute,  dans  le  grand- 
pbre , qui  etait  un  simple  cultivateur.  II  avait  un  fils  tres  intel- 
ligent. II  a voulu  en  f'aire  un  bourgeois.  Pourquoi?  Par  orgueil. 

II  a me/prise/  sa  caste  ce  jour-la,  et  il  a trouve"  un  complice  dans 

1 , 

l'Etat,  tel  que  la  Revolution  nous  l’a  fait.""  "Le  malheur  demon- 
t~e  1 ide6  j.ausse , comme  la  maladie  la  mauvaise  hygiene.  Pauvre 

I.ionneronl  Je  le  plaignais  en  vous,  comme  je  plains  la  France  en 


1.  Ferrand  in  L’Etape.  p.  24 


■ 


* 

Tr*J 

. 


- 


. 


36 


lui.  Tout  le  malaise  que  vous  me  d6erivez  ne  vient  ni  d.6  lui,  ni 

de  vous.  II  vient  de  ce  que  votre  famille  ne  s’est  pas  developpee 

d'apres  les  regies  naturelles.  Yous  etes  des  victimes,  lui  et  vous, 

de  la  poussee  democrat ique  telle  que  le  comprend  et  la  subit  notre 

pays  ou  I'on  a pris  pour  unite'" sociale  l'indivi&u.  C'est  detruire 
s / et  / * , 

a la  fois  la  societe'  1 ' individu.  La  grande  culture  a ete  donnee 

A ° 

N \ v _ / 

trop  vite  a votre  pere  et  a vous  aussi.  La  duree  vous  manque,  et 
cett6  maturation  ant  e'rie  tire  de  la  race,  sans  laquelle  le  transfert 
de  classe  est  trop  danger eux.  Vous  avez  brule^  une  e'tape  et  vous 
payez  la  ramjon  de  ce  que  j 'appelle  I'Erreur  irancaise  et  qui  n'est 
au  fond,  taut  au  fond,  que  eela:  une  meconnaissance  des  lois  essen- 
tielles  de  la  famille."  "Cette  egoisme  feroce  [pLe  Antoinej  etait, 
comme  l'irre^alisme  de  Joseph  Konneron,  comme  1 ' incertitude  mala- 
dive  de  J6an,  un  re'sultat  logiqu6.  Le  deracinement  et  l?absence 
de  maturation,  vices  d'origine  de  cette  famille,  l'avaient  produit, 
ainsi  que  le  reste.  H'ayant  pu  s'attacher  vraiment Na  aucun  lieu, 
se  faponner  a aucune  coutume,  dans  les  provinces  disparates  que 
1* existence  nomade  du  f onctionnaire  avait  traversees,  le  fils  aux 
brutaux  app^tits  ne  s*£tait  pas  senti  davantage  partie  integrants 

d’un  groupe  compact,  dans  ses  relations  avec  les  siens."  We 

3 

might  go  on  indefinitely  with  similar  quotations,  for  L'Etaoe  is 
full  of  them,  but  after  all,  to  sum  it  up  plainly,  M.  Bourget  be- 
lieved that  the  faults  of  society  lay  in  the  fact  that  ten  as  in- 
dividuals failed  to  profit  by  the  trying  experiences  of  their  an- 
cestors whereas,  if  they  had  been  bound  firmly  by  family  ties,  they 

1.  Ferrand  in  L'Stape.  p.  51 

2.  Author  himself  in  L’Etare , p.  215.  Remainder  of  quotations  fc06S 

on  to  prove  specifically  how  "deracinement"  brought  Antoine  into 

evil. 


. 


■ 


. 


■ 

I 


37 


Would  have  "become  mor6  perfect  through  a knowledge  of  their  faults. 

Again  we  find  that  Foggazaro  pays  "but  little  attention  to  another 

4 

of  Bourget's  hobbies.  In  The  Sinner  Piero  hears  the  voice  of  his 

5 

family  calling  him  away  from  sin  and  back  to  God.  Otherwise  Fogaz- 
zaro  pays  little  attention  to  perfection  through  family  experiences. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  Bourget's  second  conception,  i.  e.  the  fam- 
ily versus  the  individual.  Here  he  displays  his  bitterest  scorn 
of  democracy  and  individualism.  "...:fLa  cellule  sociale,  est  la 
famille  et  non  1 ’ individu.3 4  5 6 7 Si  cette  formule  est  vraie,  1 " observa- 
tion doit  constater  que  les  societe's  bien  portantes  sont  celles  ou 
les  lois  comne  les  moeurs  fortifient  le  lien  familial,  et  les  soci- 
eties malades,  celles  ou  ce  lien  se  relaehe  pour  laiseer  plus  de  li- 

6 

berte/  aux  individus."  In  every  epoch  where  the  family  was  impor- 
tant, he  finds  the  most  moral,  worth-while  society. "A  travers  toutes 
les  defaillances  qui  suivirent  l'ancien  Regime  conservait  pourtant 
intacte  une  legislation  elaboree  en  vue  de  la  famille;  l,autorite/ 

paternelle  e'tait  reconnue,  1 1 indissolubilite/  du  mariage  affirmee, 

7 

le  droit  d'aTnesse  respect^.”  By  the  word  family  Bourget  means 
not  only  the  mother,  father  and  the  child  but  all  the  ancestors 
and  all  the  descendants.  To  him  an  individual  is  only  a link  in 

3.  L'Etape , pp.  £24,  254,  332,  382,  400,  458,  etc.  For  criticisms 
giving  same  idea  of  him  see  Contemporary  Review.  V.  82,  p.  356; 
Sageret,  Les  Grands  Convertis  pp.  46,  59 

4.  p.  308 

5.  Same  idea  in  The  Saint . p.  147 

6.  Le  Tribun,  Preface,  p.  5.  In  L1  Emigre'.  p.  83  the  same  idea; 

L 1 Stare , p.  400;  all  of  Ls  Tribun, Critic  who  shows  the  same  idea 
is — Sa,geret--Les  Grands  Converti s-- pp.  61-62 

7.  Le  Tribun,  Preface,  p.  6. --For  a complete  and  detailed  idea  of 
The  fhfcily.  S6 e all  of  the  preface  to  Le  Tribun. 


. ' 


. 


•> 


■* 


' 


' 


■ 


O' 


38. 


this  mighty  chain;  and,  when  the^f or gets  it,  immorality  and  deca- 
dence are  sure  to  result.  All  of  the  evils  in  France  are  due  to  in- 

1 

dividual  freedom,  so  he  thinks.  The  whole  of  he  Tribun  is  a strik- 
ing argument  for  the  rights  of  the  family,  Bourget  succeeds  better 
with  his  thesis  in  this  than  in  other  of  his  works.  The  father,  a 
strong  individualist,  finis  that  his  son  has  gone  wrong  simply 
through  following  his  theory  of  individualism.  The  family  tie 
proves  stronger  than  his  theory  of  individualism  and  he  refuses  to 
denounce  his  son.  Monneron  in  L’Etaps . too,  finds  that  his  child- 
ren have  gone  wrong  from  his  teaching  of  individualism.  How  this 
brings  up  the  real  root  of  all  th6  evil,  i.e.  th6  type  of  education 
given  to  the  children,  (which  we  shall  discuss  in  the  next  para- 
graph. ) But  let  u3  first  see  what  Fogazzaro  thinks  of  the  family. 

He  is  more  of  an  individualist  than  Bourse t and  his  moralizing  is 

all 

all  directed  towards  individuals.  And,  after,  is  this  not  true  of 

A 

Bourget’ s also?  Pride,  the  cowardice  of  Monneron  in  not  looking 

reality  in  the  face,  and  not  teaching  his  children  about  religion, 

and  Mme.  Monneron* s egotism  and  extravagance  are  the  real  causes 

of  the  downfall  of  their  family,  however  hard  Bourget  may  strive 

to  lay  it  at  the  door  of  tradition.  Fogazzaro  finds  the  trouble 

2 

of  the  Mairorii  family  in  the  incompatibility  of  Luisa’s  and  Fran- 
co’s temper,  which  aris-s  from  Luisa’s  lack  of  faith  and  Franco's 
over  ardent  faith.  He  thinks  a belief  in  God  and  the  church  is 
necessary  for  every  morally  happy  family.  And  as  such  he  paint 3 
Selva  and  his  wife,  and  their  perfect  faith  and  understanding,  even 


1.  L'Etape . p.  508 

2.  The  Patriot,  pp.  242-3,  287,294,  317,  321,  409.  Also  Catholic 


Y/orld , v.  84,  p.  247;  Humor . p.  71-72 


■ 


' 3 

■ 

■ 


. 


39. 

1 2 

though  he  be  old  and  she  young.  This  is  what  Eenedet to^says  of 

them:  ,MI  have  already  blessed  you  in  your  husband,'  said  he.  'I 

cannot  distinguish  you.  You  area  part  of  his  soul.  You  are  his 

courage.  Let  this  courage  increase  in  the  painful  hours  which  a- 

wait  him.  And,  together,  may  you  be  the  poetry  of  Christian  love, 

until  the  end.  Stay  here  a little  while  both  of  you’".  This  for 

Fogazzaro  is  a morally  happy  home  because  based  on  Christian  faith 

Another  family  beautiful  in  its  morality  is  that  of  Antonio  Ros- 

3 

mini^ which  Fogazzaro  so  lovingly  describes  in  his  Discorsi . Eje- 
na  and  her  husband  are  another  example  of  marital  unhappiness. 

He  is  brutal  and  unlovable  and  entirely  unv/orthy  even  of  the  fi- 
delity which  her  coldly  moral  heart  gives  him.  After  all  we  can- 
not accuse  Fogazzaro  for  being  an  individualist  entirely.  LTote 
this:  "La  specie  umana  non  si  conserva  bene,  neanche  fisicamente 
senza  una  buona  costituzione  della  societa,  e la  societa  non  pub 

costituirsi  bene  senza  uno  sviluppo  normals  della  sua  unita  or- 
ganica,  la  famiglia.  II  genio  della  specie,  signori,  consents 

e coopera, ora  piu  ora  meno , talvolta  di  tutto  impeto,  con  i sen- 
timent i piu  nobili  e puri  dello  spirito  umano ; e,  in  certe  con- 
dizioni,  l'amore  e talvolta  ispirato  dallabellezza  morale  con  mag- 
giore  violsnza  che  dalla  bellezza  fisica.  Ef talvolta  ispirato 

dalle  doti  del  cuore  e della  merits  che  piu  giovano  al  proprio  svi- 
luppo della  famiglia,  all'intimo  accordo  dei  genitori , al  buon  al- 

levamento  dei  fisrli,  alia  migliore  possibile  conservazione  della 
5 

specie."  After  all,  for  both  of  these  men  the  real  root  of  evil 

1.  The  Saint.  pp.  38-41,  181-182*  Living  Age.  V.  249,  p.  288 

2.  The  Saint . p.  466 

3.  p.  158 

4.  The  Politician,  p.  37 


. 


. 


' 


■ 


■ 


. 


. 


40 


lay  in  the  education  given  to  children. 

Both  believed  a child  should  be  brought  up  in  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion or  else  it  would  succumb  to  the  immorality  of  the  world. 

Here  for  once  we  find  an  exact  similarity  in  the  writers.  Take  the 

l'  2 

case  of  the  little  Jeanne  in  Un  Divorce  and  Maria  in  The  Patriot. 

In  both  cases  the  parents  are  at  odds  about  their  moral  education; 
one  wants  them  raised  in  the  church  and  taught  to  depend  on  its  sys- 
tem of  morals;  the  other  wants  them  taught  morality  that  is  based 
on  justice  and  truth,  and  that  evil  is  evil  because  it  is  evil,  not 
because  the  lord  or  the  Church  says  it  is.  Of  course  both  authors 

are  very  much  on  the  side  of  the  religious  parent,  and  think  that 

a moral  child  will  be  developed  only  through  religion.  "II  fan- 

ciullo  che  ignori  la  risposta  religiosa  data  dai  suoi  padri  alle 

questioni  piu  important!  per  l’uomo,  le  regole  di  vita  ch'essi  ac- 

cettarono  come  legge  universale  e suprema,  il  significato  dei  fen- 

omeni  religiosi,  durevoli  o intermittent!,  ch 1 2 3 e°:li  incontra  ad  ogni 

passo,  il  nome,  la  storia,  gl ’ insegnamenti  di  Cristo,  non  puo  dir- 

' 3 

si  element  armente  istruito."  "lion  credo  che  questo  fine  si  possa 
raggiungere  sensa  animare  l’istruzione  primaria  di  idealita  calde, 
atte  a operare  sulla  fantasia  e sul  euore  degli  scolari.  Per  ques- 
to fine  l'articolo  non  ci  fornisce  che  la  morale  civile. 

‘'Osservo  che  l’umanita,  senza  dubbio,  si  onora  di  nature  tanto 
elevate,  tanto  rette  da  sapersi  governare  nobilmente  colle  sole 
idealita  della  morale  civile;  ma  quests  nature  non  sono  molte,  e 
sopratutto  mai , o quasi  mai , si  manifestano  sui  banchi  della  scuola 

1.  pp.  239,  361,  388 

2.  pp.  240-242,  331,  349 

3.  iogazzaro,  Biscorsi . p.  ~,48 


. 

. 


. 1 


' 

. 

. 


. 


41 


elementare . 

"Le  idealita  della  morale  civile  appaiono  belle  e grandi  al 

(i 

giovane  che  si  appassiona  per  1 1 2 3 * * indipendenza  del  suo  pensiero,  non 
possono  essere  sentit6  da  ragazzi  fra  i disci  6 i dodici  anni. 

Prancamente  diro  che  non  possono  sostituire,  quanto  ad  efficacia 

v 1 2 

educativa,  le  idealita  religiose."  Jeanne  in  The  Sinner  through 

her  lack  of  religious  education  and  faith  is  on  the  verge  of  sin. 
But  so  is  Piero,  you  say,  and  he  had  a religious  education.  Yes, 
but  with  his  sensual  nature  and  without  the  support  of  religion 
he  would  no  doubt  have  been  a libertine  of  the  worst  order.  Bour- 
get  stands  right  with  Pogazzaro  in  his  view  of  education.  In 
L'Etane . the  Monneron  children  suffer  from  lack  of  religious  edu- 
cation, in  Un  Divorce  Lucien  and  Bertha  suffer,  in  Le  Tribun 
Georges  suffers  from  the  same  lack.  "Potons  seulement,  pour  1' in- 
telligence immediate  de  la  crisa  traverses  par  son  fils,  que  I'uni- 
versitair6  radical  et  libre -penseur  avait  eleVe  ses  enfants  hors  de 
touts  espfece  d6  religion."  TT,Je  ne  me  reconnais  pas  le  droit,' 
disait-il,  ' d* enseigner  %a  des  etres,  sans  defense  centre  leurs 
premieres  impressions,  des  hypotheses  inverif iees . 8 Le  logicien 

avait  pousse^  ce  parti  pris  jusqu'au  bout:  aucun  de  ses  enfants  n'- 
/ / 4 

avait  ete7  baptise.  Julie  f6ll,  Antoine  fell  and  Gaspard  was  a 
rogue  all  because  of  their  education.  • And  yet  this  Monneron  who 
had  so  tragically  failed  in  the  education  of  his  children  wanted  to 

1.  Discorsi . pp.  245-246 

2.  p.  350 

3.  L'Etape . p.  10;  also  pp.  23,  188,  203 

4. 1 'Etape . p.  234;  also  pp.  342-343;  very  good  idea  of  the  evils  of 

a modern  educ  tion  of  girls. 


■ „ 


••  . 


- 


* 

' 

• 

c l ■■  u 

- 

4 

* 

4 


* 


■ 


\ 


' 

. 

, 


.1 


*•  ' ' 


. 


\ 


* 

. 


42 


1 

take  it  out  of  the  hands  of  the  clergy  entirely.  ,MJe  ne  pcux  pas 

• r-  - 

m'associer  a ton  6sperance,"  dit-il  (_Jean  Monneron)  siinplement . * Je 

4 / f 

vois  hien  1* element  d’energie  que  les  educations  laiques  enlevent 
\ 1* enfant.  Je  ne  vois  pas  celui  qu'elles  lui  substituent  * Car, 
enfin,  il  faut  vivre,  et,  pour  vivre,  agir.  Ou  prendre  le  ;r in- 
cite d’ obligation  dans  ce  que  vous  appelez  la  morale  inde> eluant e , 
tails  de  tout  dogme , mais  cela  signifie  qu’elle  depend  de  1’examen 
individuel. : 

’Ou  le  prendre,  ce  principe?  Mais  dans  la  Justice  s implement , ' 
re'pondit  Joseph  Monneron,  qui  avait  regards''  son  fils  avec  une  sur- 
prise attristee,  ’et  dans  la  Solidarity,  dans  cette  dette  que  cha- 
cun  se  trouve  avoir  contractee  vis-a-vis  de  1 ’humanite^  par  le  seul 
fait  qu’il  exists.  Nous  naissons  tous  obliges.’ 

’Je  te  dirai,  corome  Cremieu  Dax,  1’ autre  jour,  citant  Robes- 
pierre,’ repliqua  le  jeune  homme : ’Au  nom  de  quoi?. . .0 ’est  un  cir- 
cle vicieux.  Outre  qu’une  dette,  pour  etre  valable , suppose  qu’- 
elle  a accepted  en  connaissance  de  cause  par  le  de^biteur^  ou 
est-il  eSrit  qu’il  y a obligation  de  s’aequitter  d’une  d6tte?  Dans 

le  Decalogue  et  dans  1 ’Evangile . . . Puisque , vous  n’en  voulez  pas? 

2 

The  father  had  never  felt  th6  need  of  religious  support  but 

J6an  shows  him  only  too  well  how  his  children,  weaker  than  he,  had 

3 4 

sinned  for  the  lack  of  it.  in  Un  Divorce.  Bertha  Planet  had  been 

5 

led  astray  by  revolutionary  education  just  as  had  Lucien,  educated 

1.  I ’Etape . pp.  237,  269 

2.  L ’Etape , p.  271 

3.  L ’Etape . pp.  459-461,  pp.  474-476 

4.  Un  Divorce,  p.  157 


5.  Un  Divorce,  p.  65 


43 


by  his  step-father  to  a supreme  belief  in  truth,  justice,  and  in- 

1 

dividualism.  And  in  he  Tribun.  Georges  in  pursuing  the  theory  of 
individualism  taught  him  by  his  father  falls  into  sin;  and  steals. 

In  other  books  also,  Bourget  has  shown  the  evils  of  the  education 
of  young  men.  ”LT Education  au  lieu  de  reparer  les  torts  de  la  na- 
ture, les  a aggraves.  Bile  a ete,  cette  education,  trop  douce: 
chef-d’oeuvre  de  la  tendresse  imprevoyante  des  parents  d’aujourd’- 
hui  qui  s’appliquent  a ©carter  toutes  les  pierr.es  du  3 in  de  I'en- 

P 

fant,  en  sorte  que  plus  tard,  I’homme  se  heurts.ia  au  premier  ecueil’.1 

”M.  Bourget  a ecrit ... 'Eleven  des  enfants  sans  Dieu,  sans  milieu 

de  famills...,  equivaut  a preparer  des  prostitutes  implacables,  des 
v 3 

adu.lteres  desequilibrees , des  se parses  dangere  V"  ( Ph?  siologj 

d ’ ar  our . ) 

There  is  also  another  evil  of  the  family  which  is  equally  dan- 
gerous and  that  is  forcing  children,  (either  physically  or  mental- 

1 rry.  I,-  ~Tn  Divorce.Ga'  " lie  1 1 been  pressed  into  marry- 

4 

i ng  the  sot  from  whom  she  wg  later  divorced.  In  Le  Demon  du  3 idi. 

5 ~ 

the  heroine  marries  for  money  to  save  her  family.  In  A Parisian 
6 

Household . a short  story  by  Bourget,  we  find  the  evils  of  trying 
to  force  a daughter  to  marry  for  money,  well  portrayed.  I11  " 

1.  Le  Tribun . pp,  156-157 

2.  Portraits  d'Ecrivains.  p.  27-28.  In  speaking  of  Herbert  Liauran, 

( Cruelle  Enigne ) . Hen^  Vinci  and  Andre  Cornells  (Andrt  Corne- 
lls). Also  same  idea  in  Nation  V.  42,  p.  £95;  and  Rivasso, 

I’unite  d'une  pensee.  p.  71. 

5.  Sageret,  Les  Grades  Convert  is,  p. 

4.  p.  22 

Cent  nr;)  , V.  76,  p.  ^ . .8-Ie  Bo,. . ..  i. , a re  vie' 

V. . 3.  Lilly. 

. Living  Age,  V.  227,  p.  692,  in  English. 


44. 

i 

Fantoms  we  find  a strong  condemnation  of  young  girls  forcing  them- 
selves to  marry  brutal  men  simply  to  save  their  families  from  fin- 
ancial ruin.  Fogazzaro,  too,  disproves  of  this.  In  The  Politician 


we  see  how  Elena,  though  not  forced  physically  was  forced  mentally, 

by  her  mother,  to  marry  the  first  man  who  proposed,  namely  the  evil 

Santa  Giu  ia.  Piero  in  The  Sinner  feels  that  he  was  intrigued  into 

3 


marrying  Elisa,  who  so  soon  became  insane.  In  The  Patriot  the  mar- 
chesa  tri6d  to  force  Franco  to  marry  a rich  girl  and  when  he  re- 
fused and  married  a poor  one,  she  persecuted  hir  unmercifully. 

Despite  their  condemnation  of  this  evil}  both  authors  felt  that 

after  people  were  once  married,  they  should  remember  and  fulfill 

4 

their  duties  as  husband  or  wife.  Elena’s  fidelity  to  her  husband, 
despite  his  evil  way^., crowns  her  for  Fogazzaro  as  a most  moral  wo- 
man, He  does  rather  condemn  the  coldness  of  her  fidelity,  which  is 
due  to  h6r  lack  of  faith, but  after  all  she  does  her  duty  and  keeps 
herself  free  from  sin.  "What  sort  of  a wife  had  she  been  to  him? 
Upright?  yes,  except  on  one  or  two  occasions;  hard  and  cold  as  cry- 
stal; faithful  to  herself,  not  to  him!  That  is  if  she  were  still 

fai thful l • • • and  it  pleased  him  to  fancy  that  high  and  mighty  vir- 
5 

tue  sullied."  "'I  promised,’  she  went  on  at  last,  ’to  be  faithful 

6 

to  you;  and  whatever  you  think,  faithful  I will  be  to  the  end.’" 

To  see  Piero's  remorse  at  forgetting  his  wife  and  his  duties  to  her 

!•  Fortnightly  Review.  V.  76,  p.  142,  Heview  of  Bourget’s  Le  Fan- 
t$me,  by  W.S. Lilly 


2.  pp.  20-21 

3.  pp.  58,  63 

4.  The  Politician,  p.  20,  182,  263,  336-337;  See  also  Catholic  World 
. V.  84,  p.  244 

5*  The  Politician,  p.  342 


6.  Idem,  p.  350  Same  idea,  p.  352,  395 


45 


is  sufficient  to  show  that  Fogazzaro  condemns  infidelity.  But  be- 
sides fidelity,  Fogazzaro  thinks  children  are  a good  thing  for  the 

1 

moral  elevation  of  a home.  They  bind  the  parents  to-gether.  Siena 

2 

is  childless  and  suffers  from  it.  Elisa,  too,  feels  that  had  she 

had  a child  she  might  have  saved  Piero  from  falling.  Bourget  does 

not  S6em  to  consider  the  immorality  of  childlessness, for  his  books 

are  usually  heavily  populated  with  children.  He  likes  to  use  the 

children  to  show  the  effect  of  family  life.  As  to  th6  duties  of  a 

3 

married  couple,  he  feels  them  strongly.  In  Un  Divorce  Mme.  Darras 

says:  171  Le  devoir  d’uns  femme  6st  de  maintenir  tou jours  la  paix  d6 

son  foyer.1'7  ,7’Je  ne  vous  ai  pas  ordonne^  d'abondonner  votre  foyer,” 

4 

rectifia  M.  Euvrard,  ”du  moins  en  ce  moment”77  M.  Darras  defines 

his  own  duty  thus,"*Le  mari  doit  protection  a sa  femme , --protection 

5 6 

physique,  protection  morale.’77  In  Le  Tribun  we  find  Mme.  Portal 

making  this  statement  "Ah!  je  benis  le  sort  de  m ’avoir  fait  grandir 

dans  ce  milieu  universitaire , cLe  vie  si  simple,  les  snobs  disent 

si  mediocre!  Les  filles  y apprennent  \ devenir  C6  que  je  suis  fiere 

d’avoir  eti  pour  mon  mari,  une  compagne  d’ide^s  qui  sait  en  ireme 

temps  £tre  une  femme  de  menage.7’  And  in  the  meantime  she  forgot 

her  duties  as  a mother  so  eager  was  she  to  be  a good  wife.  It  is 

Mme.  Claudel,  the  lover  of  Georges,  who  feels  real  mother  love  and 

7 

duty  when  she  gives  up  her  passion  for  her  child.  Another  thing 

1.  The  Politician. 

2.  The  Sinner. 

3.  The  play,  p.  9 

4.  Un  Divorce , p.  35;  pp.  394-395,  same  idea. 

5.  Un  Divorce . p.  ?4 


6.  p.  15 

7.  Le  Tribun,  pp.  195,  205,  223 


. 

. 


- 

* 


‘ 


that  B our  get  feels  is  wrong  in  regard  to  marriage  is  to  enter  it 

without  having  oast  out  other  sexual  ties,  and  even  the  memories 

of  them.  "'Your  future  wife  has  no  past  to  hide  from  you.  Of  your 

past,  I know  nothing;  but  I feel  sure  that  the  moment  you  decided 

upon  marriage  you  freed  yourself  from  all  other  sexual  ties,  in 

thought . as  in  fact;  that  your  past,  if  culpable,  is  utterly  don6 

away  with.  If  it  were  not  so,  you  would  profane  a great  sacrament 

...you  would  commit  a real  sacrilege,  sure  to  be  visited  with  pun- 

1 

ishment.  Deus  non  irridetur:  God  is  not  mocked  with  impunity,*” 
said  abb/ Front eau  to  Malclerc  on  the  eve  of  his  marriage.  But  Mal- 
clerc  did  profane  it,  for  he  married  this  girl,  the  daughter  of  his 
old  mistress.  His  punishment  was  mental  torture  from  the  phantom 
of  his  dead  mistress, and  he  himself  suffered  fully  for  that  greatest 
of  all  sin,  adultery. 

At  least  the  world  considers  it  so,  for  moral  and  immoral  to- 
day have  almost  narrowed  down  to  mean  purity  or  lack  of  purity  in 
sexual  relations.  Consequently  both  Bourget  and  Fogazzaro  give  love 
and  its  evils  chief  place  in  their  novels.  Dimnet  says  of  Bourget: 
"Their  (his  early  novels}  pessimism  makes  it  clear  that  the  kind  of 

love  to  which  they  endlessly  revert  is  a scourge  and  not  a human 

2 

development..."  later  he  condemns  him  thus,  "The  less  that  is  said 

about  what  is  called  love  in  modern  fiction,  its  omnipresence , its 

intoxicating  fascination  and  even  its  evils,  the  better.  ITow  Bour- 

get's  novels  treat  of  nothing  else  than  this  universal  disease  and 

describe  its  symptoms  with  enough  charm  to  make  them  more  attrac- 

3 4 

ive,  than  their  consequences  are  dreadful."  The  Academy  doesn't 

1.  Fortnightly  Review, p.  148 . 

2.  Paul  Bourget  .,  .p,  3$ 

3.  Paul  Bourget.  p.  80 


4.  Review,  V.  59,  p.  486 


47. 


seem  to  agree  with  this  for  it  says  ’’But  he  does  not  attempt  to 
make  vic6  attractive  and  had  he  written  his  stories  (Qruelle  Knigme 
Grime  d* amour,  and  Asir</  Cornelis)  with  the  express  purpose  of  il- 
lustrating the  axioi  that  'lawless  love  is  guilt  above',  he  could 
hardly  have  done  so  more  forcibly  than  by  the  fate  which  he  brings 
down  upon  the  heads  of  his  guilty  lovers.  As  he  himself  says  in 
his  slightly  precious  way,  the  commands  "thou  shalt  not  commit  a- 
dultery"  and  "Thou  shalt  not  covet,"  might  be  written  as  an  epi- 
graph to  much  of  his  work,  and  the  danger  of  giving  rein  to  the 
passions  is  marked  in  every  linej"  It  seems  to  me  that  this  state- 
ment is  very  true  of  both  men.  In  regard  to  Fogazzaro , Prof.  Ken- 
neth McKenzie  writes  thus,  "The  purpose  of  art  as  he  understood  it 
is  to  assist  the  superior  and  spiritual  elements  in  our  nature  to 
rise  above  the  brutal  and  inferior.  A moral  triumph  is  more  impor- 
tant than  happiness  or  worldly  success.  We  may  asm  sometimes  if 
it  is  worth  wThile  to  sacrifice  so  much  for  a moral  ideal.  We  may 
even  feel  a secret  longing  to  have  these  men  and  women  abandon 
their  austere  virtue  and  yield  to  the  temptation  which  promises 
them  happiness.  And  yet,  after  the  mental  struggle  which  ends  so 
often  in  renunciation,  we  close  the  book  with  a feeling  of  profound 
admiration  for  these  characters  and  for  the  author  who  has  created 
them."  It  is  for  these  very  reasons  that  Fos:azzaro  condemns  au- 
thors  for  making  love  too  attractive.  Ir>  Discorsi  he  says:  "Le 
passioni  d'amore  hanno  gran  parte  nella  letteratura  moderna.  Mol- 
ti  scrittori  hanno  rappresentata  la  p&ssione  sensuale  senz'altro 
intendimento  ch6  di  riprodurre  il  vero,  o di  dilettare,  o di  far 

1*  Yale  Review.  N.S.,  V.  1,  p.  128 


2.  p.  39 


■ * 


. 


. 


. 


■ ' 


. 


48. 

rumore  e guadagni ; senz'altro  freno  che  le  leggi f penal! . II  sucees- 
so  e state  doloroso  per  la  morale  e per  I'arte."  "'Is  sono  di  quel- 

li,  che  dicono  che  non  si  deve  scrivere  d'amore  in  n odo  da  far  con- 

1 

sentire  I'animo  di  chi  legge  a questa  passions'",  is  a sentiment  of 
Fogazzaro  (as  well  as  Manzoni ) . Both  he  and  Bourget  condemn  sensu- 
ality and  adultery  so  many  times  that  it  would  he  impossible  in  the 
limited  scope  of  this  paper  to  point  them  all  out.  We  shall  quote 
one  or  two  of  the  most  -striking  condemnations  of  each.  If  more  are 
desired,  a very  cursory  reading  of  any  of  the  novels  of  either  man 

will  offer  them  in  abundance.  Bourget  says:  "’h/gitime,  1' amour  est 

✓ ✓ 

1 element  premier  de  la  famille,  par t ant , des  vertus  q;  e la  f ami lie 

exige , part ant , de  la  societe  entiere,  dans  ce  que  cette  societe  a 

de  r£el  et  de  solide.  Illegitime,  il  occasionne  les  ulus  dangereuses 

2 " 3 

anomalies  de  la  conduite  6t  de  la  destinee.'"  In  L'Etape  Bourget 

condemns  adultery  thus:  "Une  indelicatesse  d* argent  se  repare.  Un 

manque  de  probit/  s' expie.  Ce  sont  des  faut6S  abstraites,  si  1 1 2 3 4 on 

-/ 

peut  dire,  et  dont  on  souffre  dans  sa  pensee , dans  son  etre  social, 
presque  par  raisonnement . Les  d/cheances  de  la  femme  sont  melees 
d'une  souillure  physique.  C'est  la  tache  la  plus  intime,  la  plus 
d/sespe recent  inefxa^able,  quand  elle  tombs  sur  une  mere,  sur  une 
fills.  Elle  atteint  l'homrne  dans  sa  chair  meme , dans  ce  que  la  per- 
sonne  a de  plus  secret  et  de  plus  saignant."  Let  us  now  quote  some 

4 

critics  in  regard  to  Bourget' s attitude  towards  love.  Mr.  Bertrand 

1.  Discorsi . p.  40 

2.  Rivas so , L1 Unite  d'une  Pense6,  p.  37.  Also  see  all  of  second 
part  for  ideas  of  Bourget  in  respect  to  love. 

3.  p.  281 

4.  Revue  des  deux  Monde s,  Dec.  15,  1920^p.731 


. 


. 


- 


. 


' 

. 


49 


writes  thus:  "’l**  amour  moderns,'  comme  il  l’appelle,  amour  souille^ 

et  pourtant  epris  de  purete^  affreusement  £goiste  et  brutal,  at 

pour t ant  assoiffe  d*  ideal  et  de  sacrifice,  amour-spleen,  amour  mor- 

bide,  qui  courbe  1 ' intellectual  sous  la  loi  de  1* instinct  et  qui, 

en  meme  temps,  1' exalte  par  des  mirages  de  f elicit^  impossible,  en 

lui  rappel  ant  sa  vraie  nature  qui  est  d'aimer  le  Lien  unique — tout 

cela  s'exprime  dans  les  premieres  oeuvres  du  romanci6r  et  de  l'es- 

sayiste."  Mr.  Lionnet  says  Physiologic  de  1 ’amour  is  "...violent 

ir.eme , quand  des  indignations  de  Chretien  centre  l'internat  contre 

12 

l'egoisme  du  faux  amour,  emportent  1' auteur."  Lilly  says  of 
Crime  d1 2 3  amour  ’rI  hardly  know  where  to  turn  for  a more  passionate 
and  persuasive  exhibition  of  the  moral  agonies  which,  by  the  nature 
of  things  are  bound  up  inseparably  with  the  crime  whereof  he  has 
been  writing--th6  crime  of  high  treason  against  the  most  sacrosanct 
of  human  affections."  Lemaitre  in  speaking  of  Cruelle  Enigme. 

"...un  morceau  sur  le  role  de  1* amour  dans  le  developpement  de  notre 
etre  morale:  ’Tout  au  long  de  nos  annees,  il  s'est  done  enrichi 
ou  appauvri,  au  hasard  de  cette  passion  souverainement  bien  faisante 
ou  destructive,  le  tresor  de  moralite  acquise  dont  nous  sommes  les 
d^positaires : infideles  d^positaires  si  souvent  et  qui  pr^parons  le 
banqueroute  de  nos  successeurs  parrni  les  caresses  et  les  sourires.™ 
Let  us  turn  to  Fogazzaro.  He  too  condemns  adultery  but  believes 
that  a great  love  tends  to  become  merged  with  the  Divine  and  to  uur- 

1*  ^'Evolution  des  id^es,  V.  1,  p.  192 

2.  nineteenth  Century,  V.  £7,  p.  978 

3.  Les  Contemporains.  V.  3,  p.  383.  For  other  views  see  Doumic 
Portraits  d'^crivains,  V.  2,  chapter  IV,  pp.  21-26;  Lionnet, 

X '2 vo  lut  inp  ug  i f\  /n  q [ v.  1,  p.  201;  Sage  ret,  Les  Grands  Con- 
vertis , p.  42 


• • fl  ■ 


. 


* 


50, 

ify  mankind.  At  least  this  latter  idea  is  prevalent  in  his  early 
works;  but  in  The  Sinner  we  get  such  a strong  condemnation  of  spir- 
itual love  that  we  believe  he  must  have  had  a change  of  faith.  Don 
Giuseppe  speaks  to  Piero t "You  say  the  temptations  of  the  senses 
have  diminished  and  that  you  cannot  understand  ?/hy  the  danger  of 
binding  yourself  to  this  woman  through  your  soul  should  be  more  ter- 
rifying to  you  than  the  danger  of  a purely  sensual  fall.  Your  ter- 
ror is  justified,  for  the  very  vil6ness  of  the  purely  sensual  sin 
’is  at  first  a restraint,  and  afterwards  generates  that  impulse  of 
remorse  and  loathing  which  soon  helps  the  sinner  to  rise  again.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  tie  which  is  believed  to  be  of  the  Soul  alone 
leads,  little  by  little,  when  occasion  presents  itself,  to  certain 
familiarities,  which  grow  more  and  more  sensual  and  produce  an  un- 
due excitement  of  the  body,  which  mingles  with  the  undue  excitement 
of  the  spirit.  Then  in  this  natural  mingling  of  body  and  spirit 
the  sin  appears  less  vile,  a less  hideous  distortion  of  human  na- 
ture, and  generates  no  hatred  of  the  accomplice,  as  in  the  first  in- 
stance, but  generates  rather  a closer  union  in  evil  doing,  a proud, 
blind,  self-satisfied  union,  which  lasts  until  the  hour  of  atonement 
arrives,  and  the  body  and  soul  grow  cold.  Thank  your  God  that  He 

has  warned  you  of  a danger  you  could  not  see,  by  means  of  a horror 

1 

you  could  not  understand!  ” Perhaps  this  idea  of  condemning  spir- 

2 

itual  love  cameto  him  after  the  critics  called  The  Politician  9 a 

book  of  spiritual  adultery.  Let  us  hear  what  Fogazzaro  himself, 

\ 

has  to  say  of  his  idea  of  love,  ,f,Ma  a me  premeva  dire  qual’e  il 
mio  concetto  sulle  relazioni  d’amore  fra  due  persons  non  libere ; 
mi  nremeva  far  comnrendere  che  se  ho  mppresentata  la  relazione  di 

1.  The  Sinner,  p.  83 

2.  Scotti,  La  Vita 'di  Antonio  Fogazzaro,  p.  136 # tells  of  this,  but 
denies  the  justice  of  the  criticism. 


• 

• 

. 

, 

* 

' 

■ 

■ 


.1  . 


51. 

Cortis  e di  Elena  in  modo  che  desta  la  pieta,  la  sirnpatia  e anche 
1 1 ammirazion6  quella  relazione  non  risponde  per d al  mio  i deale  mo- 
rale. 11  mio  ideale  morale,  rispetto  a simili  eentimenti,  si  con- 
tiene  in  quei  versi  di  Eva  che  cominciano,  L'immortale  amor  tuo  ter- 

rihil  dono Un  amore  che  vada  contro  l'ordine  prescritto  da 

Dio,  temporaneamente,  alia  uni  one  dell'uomo  e della  donna  sulla  ter- 
ra, non  pu6  manifestarsi  per  quanto  sublime  sia,  che  in  un  ordine 
futuro,  quando  il  presente  sia  cessato.  Questa  e a mio  avviso  la 
perfezione;  con  che  non  voglio  dire  che  chi  ama  come  Eva  (prima  di 

Gristo  non  s’e  mai  amato  cosl),  non  poasa  moltissimo  sperare  che 

\ 1 

il  suo  errors  sia  guidicato  degno  di  pieta  e di  perdono”’.  Then 
for  Fogazzaro  moral  love  is  Divine  love.  If  he  has  a thesis  of 
morality  in  love,  this  is  it,  for  all  his  novels  show  the  struggle 
of  the  higher  and  lower  instincts,  with  final  victory  to  the  higher 
ones.  The  Sinner  is  the  best  example  of  this.  All  its  plot  is 
built  on  Piero’s  struggle  with  his  sensuality.  He  is  saved  from 
sin  and  led  back  to  religion  by  his  dying  wife.  Guided  by  religion 
and  purified  by  a renunciation  of  all  earthly  love  he  appears  as 
Benedetto , the  saint,  in  The  Saint . Does  Bourget  agree  with  Fogaz- 
zaro in  this  attitude?  Ho.  For  him  any  love  which  cannot  or  does 
not  lead  to  respectable  marriage  is  evil.  He  never  even  considers 
love  in  the  light  of  a purifier.  How  absurd,  you  can  almost  hear 
him  say.  Illicit  love  is  evil  and  leads  to  the  most  evil  conse- 
quences, so  he  thinks.  The  adultery  of  a wife  is  perhaps  the  worst 
because  it  makes  so  many  innocent  people  suffer.  Her  husband  and 
her  child,  if  she  has  one  born  of  tier  sin,  are  the  ones  to  pay. 

1.  Scotti,  La  Vita  di  Antonio  Fogazzaro.  p.  144.  Same  idea  in  Dis- 

corsi , Jn  opinions  di  Alessandro  Lanzoni.  pp.  38-60;  Gennari , 

Antonio  Fogazzaro.  pp.  55,  71,  82,  83.  • 


52 


Take  the  case  of  Landri's  mother  in  L,Enirre/.  Seduced  by  Jaubourg, 
keeping  her  secret  from  all,  even  her  husband,  and  pawning  off  this 
child  as  her  legitimate  son,  she  lives  and  dies  a seemingly  virtu- 
•ous  wife . It  is  only  long  years  after,  that  Jaubourg  on  his  death- 
bed betrays  the  secret  and  throws  Landri  and  Clavier s-Grandchamp 

1 

into  the  most  intense  sdi  moral  suffering.  In  Eogazzaro ' s woiks 

consider  the  case  of  lime.  Cortis.  Seduced^  and  driven  from  hoi  i by 

her  husband,  this  wicked  woman  lives  a life  of  evil  until  penniless 

and  old  she  drags  herself  back  into  her  son’s  life  (for  he  had 

thought  her  d6ad)  and  tortures  him  morally  by  her  very  degeneracy 
2 

and  deceit.  Though  Eogaszaro  leaves  us  with  the  impression  that 

3 

Daniel  is  not  illegitimate  as  his  mother  would  have  us  believe,  we 
are  never  quite  sure  of  it.  It  is  enough,  however,  to  see  the  men- 
tal and  moral  suffering  of  Daniel  ..hen  in  the  presence  of  this  de- 
generate mother.  Bourget  takes  the  evils  of  love  a step  lower,  if 

4 

they  can  go  lower,  by  having  Rumesnil  propose  an  illegal  operation 

to  Julie,  the  girl  he  had  seduced.  The  girl's  moral  struggle  be- 

5 

fore  the  thought  of  this  horrible  crime  is  fearful.  After  all  it 
is  the  suffering  of  the  child  born  of  sin  which  is  the  worst  evil 
of  love,  for  the  child  is  absolutely  innocent .Consider  this  from 
Terre  Promise:  "'Si  un  p^reil  titre  n'eut  pas  paru  trop  ambitieux, 
dit  LI.  Bourget  dans  sa  preface,  ce  livre  se  serai t apjiele^  le  Droit 

1.  pp.  18,  , 193,  210  etc.  Also  in  he  Pantome  the  daughter  suffers 

for  the  mother's  sin.  See  Lionnet,  V.  1,  p.  190  for  other  ideas 
on  this.  Also  see  Rivasso,  chapt.  VIII,  pp.  115-122 

2.  See  chapter  ? of  The  Politician. 

3.  p.  291 

4.  h’Etape , pp.  328-329 


5.  pp.  330,  334-33? 


. 


. 


■ 


* 


' 


55 


de  1 1 2 * enfant . Le  problem©  particulier  qui  s’y  trouve  pose  se  rat- 

tache,  en  effet,  a cet  autre  plus  g^n^ral : jusqu'a  quel  point  le 

fait  d' avoir  donne  volontairement  la  vie  a un  autre  etre  nous  en- 

gage-t-il  envers  cet  autr6  etre?  Dans  quelle  rnesure  notre  person- 

nalite,  est-elle  obligee  d'abdiquer  1 ' independance  de  son  devel- 

oppement  devant  cette  existence  nouvelle?  Suivant  la  r^ponse  que 

vous  ferez  a cette  question,  vous  serez  pour  ou  contre  le  divorce, 

pour  ou  contre  le  second  mar i age  des  veufs  et  des  veuves,  pour  ou 

contre  1* education  par  l'internat,  pour  ou  contre  la  recherche 

de  la  paternite',  pour  ou  contre  1' absolution  des  vengeances  conju- 

gales,  qualif'iees  si  complaisamment  de  crimes  passionnels . Ces 

examples  suffisent  a montrer  la  complexlte  singuliere  de  ce  pro- 

bleme,  1‘ enfant,  qui  ne  resume  rien  moins  que  la  moralite  de  l’a- 
1 

mour . 1 ,T 

Bourget  shows  quite  clearly  that  he  is  on  the  contre  side  of 
this  in  his  strong  condemnation  of  divorce  in  Un  Divorce,.  His  most 
striking  thrust  comes  in  calling  it  adultery  and  free  union,  and 
in  comparing  it  to  them.  Lucien  denounces  his  mother's  divorce, 
and  marriage^  as  nothing  more  than  Berthe’s  free-union.  lime.  Darras 
carried  away  by  remorse  comes  to  believe  the  same  thing.  "A  un 
moment  donn^,  elle  avait  pu,  emportee  par  le  delire  du  remords , as- 
similer  son  e^tat  de  femme  divorcee  et  remari^e  civilement  a celui 

rr 

, V , , ° 

d une  irreguliere,  comme  etait  la  malheureuse  fiancee  de  son  fils." 
In  fact,  Bourget  treats  free  union  much  better  than  divorce.  Hear 
Lucien' s cry  in  answer  to  Berthe’s  ideas,  M,Je  me  suis  demand e en 
quoi  il  consistait  essentiellsment , et  je  n'ai  trouve7  qu'une  re/- 

1.  Rivasso,  p.  116 

2.  Un  Divorce,  p.  221 


Un  Divorce,  p.  525 


. 


. 


' 


. 

* 


* 


. 


54. 


ponse , la  votre:  le  mariage , c’est  un  engagement  entre  une  con- 
science d'homme  et  une  conscience  de  femme.  Qu'ajoute  la  loi  a cet 
engagement ? Rien,  sinon  des  conditions  de  garantie.  Ces  condi- 
tions n 1 2 augment ent  plus  la  validite  du  contrat  qu'une  signature 
n' augments  la  validite  d'une  dette.  J'en  ai  conclu  qu'en  contrac- 
tant  1 1 engagement  que  vous  avez  contracts',  il  y a cinq  ans , sans 
cette  garantie,  mais  avec  une  alosolue  "bonne  foi,  vous  vous  etes 
conformee  aux  regies  de  1‘Ethique  eternelle.  Votre  action  etait 
imprudente,  dangereuse  pour  vous.  Le  fait  l'a  prouve.  Moralement 
elle  etait  de  nature  a servir  de  r^gle  absolue,  qouisque  I'Union 

libre,  ainsi  congue,  est  vrainment  le  mariage  ideal,  celui  qui  ne 
\ 

releve  que  de  la  conscience  individuelle , dans  ce  qu'elle  a de  ulus 

1 

intime  et  de  plus  profond.'"  Had  it  not  been  for  some  few  such 
virile  remarks  as  the  following  of  M.  Darras,  Bourget  would  have 
filled  all  society  with  a craze  for  free  union.  "Quand  deux  #tres 
sont  vraiment  decides  a s’unir  pour  fonder  un  foyer,  ils  doivent 
a la  societe'  de  le  lui  declarer;  ils  se  le  doivent  a eux-memes, 
qcour  n'etre  pas  confondus  avec  ceux  qui  ne  cherchent  dans  la  vie 
sexuelle,  que  la  satisfaction  d'une  fantaisie  ou  1 1 assouvissenent 
d'une  brutalite . Cette  societe  leur  off re  le  moyen  de  faire  cette 

i 2 

declaration  facilement,  librement . ' " Then  hear  Pere  Euvrard  reply 
to  time.  Parras,  denouncing  divorce  in  behalf  of  the  church;  and 
note  the  difference  in  virility  of  the  two  men.  "I’Evangile  par- 
donne  a la  femme  adultkre  et  qe  n'en  suis  pas  une.  Je  suis  une 
honnete  femme . " 

"Lisez  tout  l!Evangile,  madame,et  vous  y verrez...la  meme  de- 
fense imperative  pour  l'homme  et  pour  la  femre  de  contracter  un 


1.  Un  Divorce,  p.  185. 

2.  Un  Divorce . play,  p.  19 


' 

.. 


■ 


" 


* 


. 


55 


iin  second  mariage  du  vivant  de  son  conjoint.  Ce  n'est  p-as  l'Eg- 

lise  qui  condamme  le  divorce,  c'est  No  ire -3 eigne nr , c'est  Dieu  lui- 

meme,  et  vous  ne  pouvez  pas  a la  fois  le  recevoir  \ l’autel  et  res- 

1 

ter  en  revolte  contre  lui.,TT  This  family  had  been  so  happy  before 
Gabriell6's  return  to  the  faith;  her  husband  had  been  such  a brute; 
Mr.  Darras  had  been  so  loving  and  kind  to  her;  and  they  had  found- 
ed such  a happy  foyer , that  we  almost  agree  with  Mr.  Darras  when 

2 

he  accuses  the  priest  and  the  church  of  breaking  up  his  home. 

Bourget  gains  most  for  his  thesis  when  he  points  out  the  evils  of 
3 

divorce.  After  having  Pere  Euvrard  show  that  divorce  is  not  mono- 
gamy which  had  proved  so  efficacious  throne:  out  the  centuries,  and 

4 : 

that  wherever  divorce  had  been  prevalent  crime  had  increased,  has 
him  point  out  its  more  specific  evils, u ’ll  n’y  a pas  vingt  ans 

/ / / j 

que  cette  detestable  loi  du  divorce  a ete  votee,  et  si  vous  saviez 

combien  de  tragedies  je  l'ai  de  ja  vue  produire,  moi  qui  confesse 

/ 

si  peu;  dans  quelles  catastrophes  j ' ai  vu  sombrer  des  menages  canme 
le  votr6 , qui  n'ont  pas  compris  cette  evidence,  partout  empreinte 
ce pendant : toute  liberte  contraire  aux  lois  de  la  nature  engendre 
une  servitude,  tout  devoir  abandonne7  un  malheurl  J’ai  vu  des 
haines  fratricides  entre  les  enfants  du  premier  et  du  second  lit, 
des  peres  et  des  meres  juges  et  condamn^s  par  leurs  fils  et  leurs 
filles,  ici  des  heurts  meurtriers  entre  le  beau -pere  et  son  beau- 
fils,  la  entre  la  seconds  femme  et  la  fille  du  mari,  ailleurs  la 
jalousie  du  passe,  d'un  passe  rendu  si  vivant  par  1* existence  du 
premier  mari,  suppliciant  le  second  mari,  ailleurs  des  luttes  hor- 

1.  Un  Divorce,  play,  p.  10 

2.  Un  Divorce,  p.  231 

Un  Divorce,  pp.  43,  95,  98,  245,  299,  307-308,  336,  349,  398 
Un  Divorce . pp.  27-29 


. 


■ 


. 56. 

ribles  entre  ce  premier  mari  et  son  ancienne  femme  ant our  des  mal- 
adies de  leur.  enfant,  ou,  une  1'ois  grandi,  de  ses  passions,  de  ses 
folios  de  jeune  homme , de  son  mariage,  si  c’est  une  fille.  Et  je 
ne  vous  parle  pas  de  eette  rancoeur,  quotidiennement  renouvelee, 
contra  la  malveillance , avouee  ou  cached,  hypocrite  ou  sincere,  qu 

import©,  d’un  monde  ou,  malgre’tout,  le  respect  de  l'union  chr^tien- 

1 

ne  demeure  intact.1 2 3 4"  Then  Mr.  Bourget  proceeds  to  make  most  of 
these  evils,  happen  to  the  Darras  family.  Did  he  succeed  in  this 
thesis?  I believe  not,  except  with  the  people  who  already  condem- 
ned divorce,  let  us  hear  Mr.  Unmet' s opinion  of  this  hook:  "...di- 
vorce is  productive  of  woes  to  the  children  of  the  divorced  and  ul- 
timately to  themselves- -but  it  is  urged  in  a harsh  cruel  manner-- 

so  harsh  and  cruel  that  it  turns  the  reader  against  the  lesson  en- 

2 

forced--and  as  in  L *5 tape  it  is  not  verified  by  the  story." 

And  what  does  Fogazzaro  think  of  this  burning  question,  you 

ask?  Hot  much,  for  the  divorce  ler  was  not  an  evil  of  his  country. 

Lao  makes  these  remarks  about  it  after  learning  of  Siena’s  love 

for  Daniele,  "’You  know  that  I have  no  faith  in  either  angels  or 

saints.  If  we  had  divorce  in  this  country!  If  we  had  divorce,  I 

should  have  taken  a wife  myself!  And  I would  never  have  changed 

her!  I should  have  been  happy!  But  we  have  no  divorce,  and  you 

3 

would  marry  the  baron.  That  was  horrible i1"  We  rather  doubt  that 

Fogazzaro  was  in  absolute  harmony  with  these  views  and  we  rather 

' 4 

prefer  to  accept  this  statement  in  the  Catholic  World,  "To  render 

1.  Un  Divorce,  p.  30 

2.  Dimnet , p.  106 

3.  The  Politician,  p.  445 


4.  V.  93,  p.  522 


57. 


his  demonstration  of  the  unalterable  character  of  th6  marriage  tie 
yet  more  striking,  Fogazzaro  has  here  introduced  all  the  circumstan- 
ces usually  used  to  extenuate  the  sin  of  unfaithfulness."  These 
are  the  few  facts  we  have  been  able  to  glean  about  the  attitude  of 
Fogazzaro  in  regard  to  divorce,  but  W6  feel  that  his  general  attitude 
in  regard  to  marriage  and  its  permanence  was  the  same  as  Bourget 's. 

Let  us  novr  pass  from  this  very  incomplete  study  of  the  family 
and  its  morals  to  the  more  specific  individual  morals,  which,  after 
all,  are  the  underlying  causes  of  the  evils  mentioned  above.  They 
are  legion. 

Lying  is  one  of  the  evils  thoroughly  condemned  by  both  Bourget 
i Fogazzaro.  Lucien  says  to  Berthe,  " 'Pas  pour  moi,'...,*et  je 
ne  saurais  avoir  d'estime  pour  un  medicin  qui  me  mentirait . Sans 
verite^,  il  n'y  a pas  de  conscience,  et  quand  on  se  donne  des  rai- 
sons pour  manquer  a la  ve<rite/  sur  un  point,  on  y manque  bientot 
sur  tons...'"  Now  hear  Bourget  speak  of  Mr.  Parras,  "II  avait  du, 
malgre"  son  aversion  pour  les  mensonges  d 1 2 opportunity , justifier 

1' absence  de  son  beau-fils  par  le  pretexts  d'un  voyage.  Pe  recom- 

\ / 

mencer  a mentir  lui  fut  si  renible  qu'il  rrononca  cette  phrase  avec 

2 

une  impatiente  brusquerie."  Mr.L.la  Rivassojs  remarks  on  Le  Fan- 
t one  show  this  hatred  of  lying,  and  its  evils,  quite  clearly.  "Ce 
bonheur,  il  ne  peut  y gouter.'  II  ne  le  peut  pas,  parce  que  l'on 
ne  cree  pas  du  bonheur  sur  le  mensonge,  et  qu'il  lui  t tc  urs 

v / 

mentir  a sa  femme,  mentir  en  each  nt  : cults  passe,  mentir  e ha que 

fois  que  le  nor.  de  la  mere  est  prononc/,  mentir  devant  chaque  sou- 
venir d 'Antoinette , mentir  dans  toutes  le.s  manifestations  de  ses 

1.  Un  Pivorce,  p.  114 

2.  Un  Pivorce.  p.  237 


■ 


' 


58 

1 

sentiments  pour  Eveline."  Fogazzaro  denounces  this  evil  as  much 

or  more  than  Bourget.  In  The  Patriot  Uncle  Piero  says,  ,T,I  have 

never  had  any  patience  with  all  this  secrecy,  all  this  feigning  and 

2 

hiding.  The  honest  man  openly  confesses  his  actions.’"  Maria  in 
toe  ^aint  also  shows  her  idea  in  this  matter;  "Maria  exclaimed  with 
some  heat:  ’OhI  IToemi  does  not  tell  lies]’  and  then,  crimsoning’ and 
smiling,  she  embraced  her  husband  as  if  fearful  of  having  offended 
him.  For,  once,  she  had  offended  him  by  some  thoughtless  words  con- 
cerning the  lack  of  truthfulness  in  Italians, " Bote,  too, 

Jeanne’s  thought;  "She  told  herself  that  she  might  possibly  regain 

his  affection  by  feigning  a conversion;  she  com Id  die  for  him  but 

3 4 

she  could  not  lie  to  him.  T Mr.  L .” . lapham  makes  this  remark  in  re- 
gard to  Luisa  and  Franco,  "To  her  (Luisa)  action  is  the  only  evi- 
dence of  truth;  to  him,  it  is  emotional  insight."  It  is  Mr.  Senna- 
5 

ri  who  best  sums  up  for  us  Fogazzaro’ s attitude.  "En  ses  romans 
il  ne  voulut  que  representer  la  verite'  et  n'accepta  comme  guide  que 
la  aincerite1 2 3 4 5 * 7. " From  the  above  selected  quotations  one  can  easily 


1.  L 'Unite'  d’une  pensee.  p.  130.  For  further  references  to  the 

hatred  of  lying  see  L ’Emigre . pp.  259,  280,  364,  397;  Un  Divorce 


pp.  194,  237;  L'Etape.  pp.  34,  379,  450,  470,  484;  Le  Tribun, 
pp.  114,  115,  179,  195, 

2.  p.  61 

3.  The  Saint , p.  401 

4.  Catholic  V; orld.  V.  84,  p.  247 

5.  Antonio  Fogazzaro.  p.  110.  For  further  ideas  on  Fogazzaro's  at- 

titude towards  lying,  see  The  Sinner,  pp.  175,  307;  The  Politician 


pp.  22-23,  284;  The  Saint,  p.  316;  The  Patriot,  pp.  39,  190,  355 


59. 


see  that  these  men  thought  that  a liar  would  meet  nothing  hut  moral 

suffering. 

T°  his  bed-fellow,  the  hypocrite  and  deceiver,  our  novelists 

are  also  strongly  opposed,  though  they  don't  say  so  much  about  it. 

h)  Tv* 

Fogazzaro  pictures  i4  best  in  the  cunning  malicious  Pasotti  who 

with  the  marchesa  represents  ail  the  evil  of  the  Austrian  government. 

Pasotti  deceives, or  thinks  he  deceives,  everyone  that  the  marchesa 

1 

tells  him  to  spy  on.  He  is  a hypocrite  of  the  first  water.  . Fogaz- 
zaro describes  him  thus:  "The  cunning  fartuf o (Pasotti),  by  nature 
as  curious  as  a hound,  that  goes  about  following  every  scent,  pok- 
ing his  nose  'into  every  hole,  and  rubbing  it  against  every  pair  of 
browsers,  (sic)  promised  to  furnish  the  marchesa  with  such  informa- 
tion in  the  course  of  a day  or  two  and  then  took  himself  off,  his 

eyes  sparkling,  rubbing  his  hands  in  anticipation  of  a pleasant 
2 ; 

chase.”  Pi  Santa  Giulia  condemns  his  wife  for  hypocrisy  in  this 

manner,  "He  added  that  she  had  been  the  first  to  play  the  hypocrite, 

for  she  deceived  him  at  the  altar  with  her  false  !I  will’,  which 

she  did  not  mean.  Elena’s  heart  ached  at  this.  It  was  true;  she 

recognized  her  own  fault,  the  selfishness  of  the  resolution  she  had 

3 

made  to  quit  the  paternal  roof,"  Fogazzaro *s  main  condemnation  of 
hypocrisy  lies,  however,  in  the  character  of  Pasotti,  which  we  have 
just  mentioned,  and  the  deceitfulness  of  Panicle's  mother  which  he 
so  clearly  describes  in  chapters  six  and  seven  of  The  Politician. 

1.  See  The  Patriot,  pp.  28,  57,  106,  511. 

2.  The  Saint . p.  100 

3.  The  Politician,  p.  100.  For  further  references  to  hypocrisy  see 
The  Politician,  pp.  219,  264,  365,  459;  The  Saint . pp.  365-366{ 
The  2 inner,  pp.  65,  261,  291,  307;  The  Patriot,  p.  20. 


60. 


In  regard  to  Daniels  himself  Mrs.  Linda  Villari  says  that  he  has 

1 

"a  genuine  abhorrence  of  all  falsity  and  meaness."  Mr.  Bourget's 
position  in  this  matter  is  the  same  as  that  of  Fogazzaro.  Ke  con- 
demns quite  strongly  the  new  type  of  medical  specialists.  ”11  se 
rencontre  encore  a Paris,  a cc?t^  des  professeurs  justement  illus- 
tres  auxquels  le  temps  manque,  et  des  charlatans  sans  conscience 

que  l'on  doit  supplier  pour  en  ohtenir  des  consultations  de  cents 

n % 

francs...  . Me j an , th6  seducer  of  Berthe  through  his  hypocrisy 

in  pretending  to  believe  her  ideas,  comes  in  for  a strong  condem- 
3 4 

nation.  Mr.  W.S. Lilly  points  out  the  same  evil  in  his  quotation 
from  Lazar ine , where  the  General  writes  to  Graffeteau,  "Is  it  pos- 
sible that  you  can  he  so  lost  to  honour  as  to  introduce  yourself 
into  a Catholic  family,  concealing  the  fact  that  you  are  a divorced 
man  and  there  to  pay  attention  to  a young  girl,  and  to  trouble 

her  peace  of  mind  knowing  well  that  she  could  not  marry  you?"  Hr. 

5 

Edmund  Gosse  points  out  another  type  of  hypocrisy  in  Contempla- 
tions sentimentales : "All  three  [short  stories]  analyse  symptoms 

of  that  disease  which  M.  Bourget  believes  to  be  so  widely  dissemi- 
nated in  the  feminine  society  of  the  day,  *la  trahison  de  la 
femme,'  deception  under  the  guise  ox  a bland  and  maiden  candour." 
From  these  meager  selections  one  can  perhaps  conclude  that  both  mem 
thought  hypocrisy  very  immoral  and  a vice  to  oe  refrained  from. 

They  also  see  one  of  its  fundamental  causes,  the  cowardice 

1.  Ac adeny , 7.  29,  p.  41.  An  Italian  Novel.  Daniel  Cor t is 

2.  L'Etape . p.  421 

3.  It'Ztapo T pp.  152,  153.  Other  references  for  the  idea  of  hypo- 
crisy are  L'Etape . p.  194  and  Un  Divorce  pp.  362-363 

4.  Fortnightly  Ecvie  . V.  If  7,  !!.  Borr-ct's  Lew  Book  ( Lazarine  ) . 

p.  1028 

5.  French  Profiles,  p.  250 


61 


which  keeps  a nan  from  the  pain  of  being  truthful  or  of  looking  Ufe 
in  the  face.  Jean  I.lonneron  is  helping  deceive  his  parents  when 
through  his  cowardice  and  fear  of  hurting  them  he  fails  to  tell  then 

of  the  growing  evils  of  his  brothers  and  sister.  If  we  look  beyond 

• 2 

that,  however , we  see  the  cowardice  of  Hr.  Monneron  in  refusing  to 

3 

look  on  the  realities  of  life.  He  had  made  his  children  feel  so 
strongly  this  attitude  of  his,  that  they  felt  they  simply  could  not 
tell  him  how  false  his  views  of  life  were.  Jean  describes  his  fa- 
ther very  fittingly,  thus:  "’Son  pays,  ce  sont  ses  idees.  Son  mi- 
lieu, ses  idees  encore.  Sa  rsalite^  ses  ide^es  tonjours.  Que  j’ai, 
senti  cela  vivement , tout  jeune,  qu ’ il  ne  voyait  pas  mes  frkres  et 
soeurs,  (sic)  qu'il  ne  voyait  que  ses  penseesJ  Mais,  ce  que  ye  ne 
sentais  pas  alors  et  ce  que  je  sens  aujour&’hui,  c’est  qu’il  y a, 
dans  cet  aveuglement,  du  parti  pris  et  de  la  volonte'".  Ion  seulement 

il  ne  voit  pas  la  vie,  mais  il  ne  veut  pas  la  voir,  parce  que  la 

, , 4 5 

realite  lui  serait  trop  cruelle . . . ’ " . Mf,Il  ferme  les  yeux  intellect- 

uellement,  conrnie  on  les  ferme  physiquement , devant  un  spectacle  in- 
supportable . .Tout  le  secret  de  mes  silences  a l’egard  de  mon  pere 
est  la,  dans  cette  sensation  que  j Tai  eue,  pres que  enfant,  qu’il  ne 
voulait  pas  voir  certaines  choses,  carce  qu’il  en  souffrait,  d’une 
souff ranee  qui  vous  etonnera,  me me  vous,  car  vous  n’avez  jamais  ren- 
contre" que  son  optimisms,  si  voulu,  lui  aussi.”’  Ferrand,  however, 
comes  back  at  Jean  with  this:  "’Vous  avez  cede  a votre  sensibilite" 


1.  -L ’Btape 


2.  L 'Etape.  pp.  76,  469-470 

3.  h ’Etape . p.  226 

4.  L ’Etape . pp.  45 

5.  p.46 


- 


« 


. 

* 

• 

62. 

coimn6  v on s avez  ceW  avec  votre  pere.  Gar  il  faut  avoir  le  cour- 
age de  vous  1'avouer  plus  corapletement : ce  n’est  pas  'a  cause  de  lui 
aue  vous  lui  avez  cache'  votre  vie  inter ieure  de  ces  dernieres  ann4e, 

c’est  surtout,  c’est  heaucoup  a cause  de  vous -me me , pour  ne  uas 

1 * 2 
souffrir,  pour  ne  pas  lutter.!"  Bourget  also  condemns  Jaubourg 

for  lacking  the  courage  to  die  alone  and  carry  to  his  grave  the  aw- 
ful secret  of  Landii’s  illegitimacy.  W©  rather  doubt  Bourget,  how- 
ever, when  he  goes  so  against  the  ideas  of  suicide  instilled  in  us, 
and  has  M.  de  Claviers  say  this:  "’Les  laches  vivent.  Ge  sont  les 

gens  de  eoeur  qui  pensent  au  suicide  devant  la  honte.  ...Nous  avons 

3 

trop  peur  de  souffrir  et  de  faire  souffrir.1 2 3 4 5 6"  Fogazzaro  is  evident- 
ly ir  opposition  to  this  idea  of  suicide, for  he  places  it  as  the 
4 

last  recourse  of  Luisa  in  her  moral  degeneration,  caused  by  the 
death  of  her  child.  "’It  would  be  better  for  me  to  end  it  all  in 
the  lake ,’ she  said  bitterly.  Her  husband  passed  his  arm  round  her 
waist,  pulled  her  away  from  the  parapet,  and  then  letting  her  go, 
threw  up  his  arm  with  a gesture  of  protest.  *YouI ’ said  he  indig- 
nantly. ’You  talk  thus?  You  who  used  to  prate  of  looking  upon  life 

5 

as  a battle?  And  is  this  the  way  you  fight?’"  As  to  cowardice  we 

6 

see  the  marchesa  cringing  before  her  fear  of  the  ne::t  world;  Piero 

1.  L 'Etape . p.  52.  For  the  same  idea,  see  L’Htape . pp.  102,  123, 
179,  273,  288. 

2.  L ’Emigre . 

3.  L ’Emigre . p.  370.  We  must,  however  give  Bourget  credit  for  con- 
• demning  murder.  See  Rivasso,  pp.  137-145. 

4.  The  Patriot,  pp.  482-483 

5.  Franco  and  Luisa  and  The  Patriot,  p.  506. 


6.  The  Patriot,  pp.  428-429. 


condemning  himself  for  cowardice  when  he  comes  to  his  wife's  death 

. 1 

bed;  and  Santa  Giulia  thinking  this,  "Curse  those  proud  people  I 

What  did  they  think  he  was?  He  might  have  every  vice  under  the  sun 

2 

hut  he  was  not  a coward," 

And  surely  he  did  have  almost "every  vice  under  the  sun  " of 

3 

which  the  worst  were  his  gambling  and  stealing.  "He  was  deeply  in- 
volved in  many  other  debts,  of  a no  less  serious  nature  than  the 
one  to  the  bank.  Merely <to  pay  his  gambling  debts,  and  to  secure 
his  reception  in  the  more  or  less  private  gambling  houses  that  he 
frequented,  he  had  been  forced,  after  trying  all  the  best-known  mo- 
ney-lenders in  Rome,  to  lay  hands  upon  certain  bonds  which  he  held 
in  trust  for  a minor,  had  pledged  them,  and  turned  them  into  money. 

This  transaction  had  now  come  to  light,  and  a prosecution  was  immi- 
4 • 

nent . " "With  her  [Elena's}  other  feelings  for  her  husband  there 

was  now  mingled,  for  the  first  time,  one  of  horror.  He  had  taken 

5 

other  people's  money!,”  says  Fogaszaro  of  Siena.  Perhaps  the  best 
notion  of  Fogazzaro's  attitude  toward  stealing  is  gained  from,  his 
having  Luisa,  Franco  and  Piero  despise  the  old  marchesa's  money  be- 
cause it  was  stolen  from  the  Ospitale  maggiore.  Piero,  in  The  Saint, 
plans  to  restore  it  but  decides  it  will  do  more  good  to  humanity 
if  invested  in  a community  agricultural  association.  Bourget , too, 
condemns  this  evil,  with  as  much  or  more  force  than  Fogazzaro.  He 
shows  it  particularly  in  parents  who  are  poor  and  over-ambitious 

1.  She  Sinner,  p.  375 

2.  The  Politician,  p.  342 

3.  Idem,  p.  22 

4.  The  Politician,  p.  340 


5.  Idem,  p.  190 


64 


■ 1 

for  their  children.  Chaffin  stole  from  his  employer  so  that  his 

son’s  education  and  career  as  a doctor  might  he  easier.  The  evil 
of  it  is  brought  out  in  the  suffering  of  the  son  when  he  discovers 

9 I 2 

this  fault  of  his  father.  The  Nation,  in  a review  of  two  of  Bour- 
get’s  novels,  says  this,  "The  more  violent  tragedy  of  'The  Day  of 
Reckoning’  is  the  consequence  of  a crime  committed  by  devoted  -par- 
ents in  order  to  assure  the  worldly  success  of  their  son,'*  ( thev 

3 4 

take  trust  funds  to  educate  their  son).  Fraud,  gambling  and  for- 

: gery  Bourget  denounces  them  all,  hut  mainly  he  attacks  forgery. 

I 5 

1 Antoine  is  the  guilty  party  in  this  case.  He  forges  a series  of 

checks  under  a false  name  and  on  the  funds  of  a patron  of  the  hank, 

in  order  that  he  may  gamble  at  the  race  courses  and  entertain  his 

f ille . Monneron  is  struck  with  horror  at  the  thought  that  his  son 
i 

is  a forger  and  a thief:  T,,TJn  faux  et  un  vol,  ce  sont  des  actions. 

I 6 

Elies  sort  abominables. ' ” In  he  Tribun,  we  find  Bourget  condemning 

the  same  things.  ,T,J'ai  l'horreur  de  la  corruption  et  de  la  venal- 

, ? 
ite,  autant  que  vcus,  monsieur  Portal.'” 

And,  as  the  basic  causes  of  all  these  evils  enumerated  above, 

we  find  false  pride  and  selfishness.  Let  us  first  consider  pride. 

Bourget  says  that  the  Monneron  family  sought  to  rise  from  their 

8 

position  simply  out  of  pride.  It  was  this  that  first  made  the  pest- 

la  L.  ~ 

’ 

sant  Honneron  send  his  son  to  school  to  become  a bourgeois,  and  it 

1.  I 'Emigre1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8,  p.  354 

2.  V.  71,  p.  515 

3.  L'Etape,  p.  164 

4.  Idem,  p.  172 

5.  L'Etape 

6*  L'Etape , p.  451.  'Same  idea,  pp.  188-189. 

7.  p.  139.  Also  p.  155  for  the  same  idea. 

8.  L'Etape . p.  24 


• 

! 

. 


■ 


. 


■ ■ 


. 


. 


. 


65. 


was  pride  that  kept  Monneron  going,  throughout  his  college  course. 

Ferrand  says  of  him:  "’Quand  je  l’ai  rencontre  a l’Ecloe  normale , 

/ / 1* 
tout  son  developpement  n'etait  qu'un  developpement  d ' orgueil. ’ ” 

Bourget  himself  gives  this  description  of  Monneron:  "Ah.1 2 * 4 5 6 7 8  noble  et 

large  coeur,  d 'une humanite  si  simple,  si  vraie,  si  sensible,  aussi- 
tot  que  I’orgueil  de  1‘ esprit  ne  I'egarait  pasi"  It  is  usually  to 
false  pride  and  its  evils  that  Bourget  refers,  but  Fogazzaro  some- 
times sees  it  as  a redeeming  feature,  as  he  shows  it  in  the  evil 
3 4 

Pasotti  and  Di  Santa  Giulia.  However,  in  them  he  sees  it  only  as 

a force  which  keeps  them  from  committing  worse  evils.  There  seems 

to  be  some  discrepancy  in  his  portrayal  of  Franco,  for,  at  first 

5 

he  describes  him  as  entirely  free  from  pride,  later  shows  his  un- 
due pride  in  rejoicing  over  his  secret  generosity  to  his  grand- 
mother,  then  pictures  him  as  proud  of  his  few  labours  while  Luisa 
was  not  at  all  proud  of  what  she  has  done,  later,  the  author  con- 
demns both  Franco  and  Luisa  in  this  manner:  "He  was  determined  to 
see  only  pride  in  his  wife,  while  his  own  anger  was  corn  almost 

wholly  of  pride,  of  outraged  self-esteem;  it  was  an  impure  anger 

7 “8 

which  darkened  his  brain  and  heart."  Daniele  and  Elena, also,  are 
condemned  for  pride.  This  passage  shows  it  well:  "*I  am  humble  be- 

1.  L f E t a o e . p.  24 

2.  L'Etape . p.  481.  For  other  references  to  pride,  see  L'Etaoe. 
pp.  il,  79,  308,  447;  L’Emigr^.  p.  395. 

3\  The  Patriot,  p.  113 

4.  The  Politician,  p.  340 

5.  The  Patriot,  p.  38 

6.  Idem,  p.  97 

7.  The  Patriot,  p.  164 

8.  Idem,  p.  329.  Other  references  in  the  same  book  are  pp.  338,  559 
428. 


66 . 

fore  God  and  before  yon/  she  (Elena]  answered,  ’but  not  before  men. 
I fear  I may  never  be.’  'And  I?'  exclaimed  Gortis.  Neither  was  he 
humble  before  men,  he,  with  his  proud  contempt  for  all  vulgar  arro- 
gance, he  the  proud  soldier  prepared  to  do  battle  for  his  ideas.  E- 

1 2 

lena  was  silent."  Don  Giuseppe  Flores  is  Fogazzaro's  idea  of  a vir- 
tuous man  in  this  respect.  He  is  so  humble  and  thinks  himself  so 
©vil,  '‘.'hen  he  has  done  more  good  deeds  in  a year  than  many  men  in 
their  lifetime.  He  has  that  crowning  virtue,  unselfishness , which 
when  lacking, causes  most  of  the  evils  of  the  world.  If  we  look 
closely  enough,  we  shall  find  selfishness  and  egotism  at  the  base 
of  almost  every  vice.  The  Crist ian  religion  fights  this  evil  more 
than  any  other  because  it  is  so  much  the  cause  of  other  evilSj—  a- 

dultery , lying,  stealing,  avarice,  gossip  and  so  on.  Fogazzaro  con- 

5 

demns  it  in  people  of  all  walks  of  life;  in  the  old  marchesa  who 

so  persecuted  Franco  and  who  thought  she  could  never  do  wrong;  in 

the  professor,  Gilardoni,  who  wished  to  rid  himself  of  the  will  of 

5 

Franco's  grandfather;  in  Franco,  the  dreamer,  who  lived  off  of 

6 

other  people  ( later  he  praises  him  for  unselfishness  ) ; in  Piero 

7 8 

who  in  his  selfish  love  for  Jeanne  forgets  his  wife  ; in  the  abbe", 

1.  The  Politician,  p.  455. 

2.  ?he  Sinner,  pp,  190-191 

5.  fhe  Patriot",  pp.  20-21,  "Ever  since  she  had  reached  the  age  of 
discretion  it  had  been  a rule  with  her  never  to  recognize  in 
herself  a single  defect  or  mistake .never  wittingly  to  wound  her 
own  noble  and  beloved  self.”  Also,  see  pp.  41-42 

4.  Idem,  p.  96 

5.  Idem,  pp.  528,  476 

6.  Idem,  pp.  348,  355. 

7.  The  Sinner . p.  356;  also  pp.  68,  104-105 


8.  fhe  Saint . p.61 


67. 

who  seeks  promotion  more  than  the  good  Qf  the  church;  in  the  peo- 
ple of  Jenne  who  love  themselves  and  th6ir  families  more  than  di- 

2 

vine  law;  in  politicians  v/ho,  though  they  may  not  v/orship  money  and 

3 

steal  it,  bow  down  to  the  gods  of  themselves;  in  the  nobleman.  Count 

Lao,  who  devotes  all  his  time  to  his  own  imaginary  physical  ills; 

4 

and  in  the  degenerate  woman.  Mine.  Cortis,  who  took  all  and  »ave  no- 

5 

thing.  This  sentence  from  Daniele's  letter  to  Elena,  "As  if  the  age 

were  not  suffering  from  selfishness  in  its  very  vitals,"  seems  to 

picture  this  evil  accurately.  Of  course  there  are  people  whom  Fo- 

6 " 7 

gazzaro  praises  for  their  unselfishness,  as  Daniele,  Benedetto.  Un- 
8 9 

cle  Piero  and  marchese  Scremin,  but  he  finds  it  much  more  farceful 

10 

to  attack  such  men  as  the  over-ambitious  marchese,  who  go  to  any 
extreme  in  working  for  their  ambition.  Perhaps  it  is  because  he 
finds  so  much  egotism  in  himself  and  fights  it  so  hard,  that  he  con- 
demns it  so  strongly  in  others:  "'Anche  nei  momenti  miei  migliori 
sento  che  appena  la  superficie  dell'essere  mio  ve  in  un  certo  grade 
bene  disposta;  le  profondita.  Is  radici,  sono  piene  di  egoismo,  di 
quell 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 egoisrno  che  bisogna  distruggere  per  trasformare  il  nostro 


1.  The  Saint . pp.  219-220 

2.  The  Saint,  pp.  376-377.  Also  p.  206. 

3.  The  Politician,  p.  pp 

4.  The  Politician,  p.  264 

5.  The  Politician,  p.  214  • 

6.  Idem,  p.  273 

7.  The  Saint . p.  92 

8.  Throughout  The  Patriot. 

9.  The  Sinner . pp.  204-205 

10.  Idem,  pp.  28-29,  186-137,  202-203,  V. 


’ 


■ 


' 


. 


. 


I 


> 


' 


68. 


presente  in  un  i£  superiore.  Eon  potro  essere  liberato  che  col  fuo- 
1 2 

co.  Kiss MacMahon  says  that  in  The  Patriot,  there  is  ’’espionage 
and  self-seeking,  much  that  is  trivial,  interwoven  with  the  pleasan- 
ter theme  of  courage,  loyalty,  chivalry  and  patriotism.”  This  is 
quite  true.  It  is  usually  the  minor  characters  who  are  most  selfish 

and  egotistical,  and  if  the  major  characters  are  possessed  of  these 

3 

faults,  they  usually  fight  them  and  win.  Bourget,  however,  to  make 

his  thesis  the  stronger  paints,  his  characters  as  unselfish  ones. 

4 5 

M.  Homier  on  and  Jean  Monneron,  how  unselfish  they  are.’  They  give  up 

everything,  cabs,  the  theater  and  so  on,  simply  to  make  ends  meet. 

6 

Hme.  Claudel,  too,  is  pictured  as  very  unselfish  and  ready  to  sacri- 
fice herself  for  George’s  good.  Of  course  line.  Monneron  is  selfish 

7 

and  egotistical  but  to  my  mind,  (in  the  books  studied  ) she  is  the 

only  character  whom  Bourget  intentionally  endows  with  these  quali- 

8 

ties.  At  the  bottom,  we  feel  that  Mme.  Darras  is  selfish  in  deman - 
ing  the  right  to  live  her  faith  and  have  a church  marriage , which 
would  make  her  daughter  seem  illegitimate;  but  there  is  little  doubt 

1.  From  Fogazzaro ' s diary,  10  May  1890,  in  ha  Vita  di  Antonio  Fogaz- 
zaro , by  Gallarati -Scotti , p.  235;  See  also  pp.  236,  239,  242. 

2.  Catholic  'World , V.  93,  p.  524 

3.  Collison-  lor ely , p.  344;  for  the  same  idea,  see  also  Linda  Vil- 
lari,  An  Italian  hovel  in  The  Academy.  V.  29 , p.  41. 

4.  L’Etape . pp.  45,  452,  487. 

5.  Idem,  p.  254 

6.  he  Tribun,  p.  106 

7.  Except  for  Mme.  le  Prieux  in  A Parisian  Household.  Living  A^-e 
(V.  227-228;  V.  228,  pp.  171 1 V.  227,  pp.  567,  572,  692)  who  is 
the  incarnation  of  egotism,  vanity  and  selfish  ambition. 

8.  Un  Divorce,  p.  357 


* 


. 


70. 

evil  of  which  Bourget  7/ishes  to  warn  the  world.  In  Le  Disciple,  he 

causes  the  revolutionary  ideas  of  a pure  man  to  bring  about  the  fall 

of  a young  boy  who  follows  them  implicitly.  The  writer  7/ho  never 

before  had  felt  any  responsibility  for  his  ideas,  has  it  brought 

1 

home  to  him  with  telling  force.  Winifred  Stephens  finds  only  two 
problems  in  Le  Disciple.  of  which  the  major  problem  is  that  of  a 

CJ 

teacher's  responsibility  for  the  doctrines  he  teaches.  Doumic  ex- 
presses this  same  idea  when  he  says:  "Tout  un  livre , Le  Disciple, 
est  consacre’  a l1 2 3 etude  de  cette  question  de  la  resuonsabilite  morale 
du  penseur."  From  the  Critic  we  take  this  very  fitting  quotation 
of  Bourget  himself:  "'For  many  years  I,  like  most  young  men  in  mo- 
dern cities,  was  content  to  drift  along  in  agnosticism,  but  I was 
brought  to  my  senses  at  last  by  the  growing  realization  that  there 
is  in  this  life  such  a thing  as  responsibility  for  the  influence  7/e 
have  upon  others.  I sa7/  that  the  life  of  a man  who  simply  said, 

,TI  don’t  know  and  not  knowing  I do  the  thing  that  pleases  we,"  was 
not  only  empty  in  itself  and  full  of  disappointment  and  suffering, 
but  was  a positive  influence  for  evil  upon  the  lives  of  others--up- 
on  7/omen,  for  instance,  and  one's  friends.  Since  than  my  belief  has 
gr ov/n  firmer  each  ye  r in  the  necessity  of  the  Christian  system  for 
practical  happiness  in  this  world.1” 

Fogazzaro  seems  to  be  little  concerned  with  these  tv/-o  evils, 
self-analysis  and  responsibility  of  one's  influence . He  like  Bourget, 

1.  French  novelists  of  To-day,  p.  153 

2.  Portraits  d'Hcrivains.  p.  155.  Same  idea  in  the  Revue 

Hondes . Dec.  15,  1920,  p.  735;  nineteenth  Century,  V.  27,  pp.  985- 
986;  Fortnightly  Revie?/,  V.  76,  p,  149,  same  idea  in  reference 
to  lialclerc  , hero  of'  tie  "^an  tome  . 

3.  V.  23,  p.  130.  Same  idea  in  Bloy,  Les  Dernieres  Ctitoies  de  l’EaliseuiS 


71* 


however,  stresses  strongly  the  need  of  fulfilling  one's  duties  to 

other  people,  which  after  all  is  only  a phase  of  responsibility. 

The  Politician  in  its  totality  is  a striking  example  of  this  as- 

1 

sionate  love  of  duty.  Prof.  Kenneth  McKenzie  calls  it  "the  struggle 

2 

between  love  and  duty."  Gennari  describes  this  duty  in  The  Politi- 
cian  thus:  "Ce  devoir  pas  plus  que  pour  Helene,  n'est  pas  une  vol- 
upte'ideale  de  la  vertu,  c'est  le  souci  de  l'ordre  necessaire,  le 
desir  de  la  beaut e et  l1 2 3 4 5 6  amour  de  Dieu.  Le  rrepris  du  devoir  serait 

v / 

1' abject ion  ou  est  tombee  Mme.  Gortis  et  to:  s deux  en  eprouvent  une 
horreur  sans  nom."  Elena  has  an  amazing  love  of  duty,  even  more 
than  Panicle.  Scotti  says  of  her:  "Ma  la  sua  coscienza  ha  una  gran- 
dezza  austera,  ch6  la  fa  sembrare  superior©  a quella  di  Paniele,  per 
che  non  chiede  premio  per  il  sacrificio  e non  attend©  compenso,  tem- 
poral© od  eterno,  per  il  dovere  compiuto."  In  considering  Bourget 

in  this  respect,  we  find  that  he  too  insists  upon  duty.  Jean  Mon- 
4 

neron  protects  his  father  from  the  realities  of  life  and  consoles 

him  because  he  feels  it  his  duty.  His  father,  too,  when  once  he  is 

awakened  to  the  evils  of  his  family,  feels  it  his  duty  to  tell  Mr. 

5 

Perrand  of  them  before  he  will  let  him  take  Jean  as  a son-in-law. 
InL1 Emigre . we  find  this  love  of  duty  strongest  with  M.  de  Claviers- 

1.  Yale  Review,  n.s.,  V.l,p.  212.  Same  idea  in  the  Catholic  World. 
V.  93,  p.  522;  Living  Age , V.  251,  p.  143;  Gennari,  Antonio  Fo- 

gazzaro . pp.  13  , 136,  158,  163 j Humor,  Antonio  Fogazzaro.  p.  64. 

2.  Antonio  Fogazzaro,  p.  139 

3.  La  Vita  di  Antonio  Fogazzaro,  p.  133 

4.  L'Etape . p.  274,  281,  448 

5.  Idem,  p.  504 

6.  p.  374-375 


' 


72. 


Grand champ  who  sacrifices  everything  through  his  feeling  of  duty  for 
. 1 
his  name  and  for  his  family  honor.  Mr.  R.  de  Rivasso  says  of  this 

principle  of  duty:  MLe  mal  de  notre  epoque  est  d’avoir  oublie'  le 
principe,  a la  fois  conform©  a la  logique  et  a la  morale,  que 
droit  de  chacun  est  limits  par  le  droit  d’autrui.  en  d’ autre s t ernes, 
que  chacun  a des  devoirs  envers  autrui.  . ..Ce  danger,  M.  Paul  Bour- 
get  l!a  denoncd”  m&intes  ois,  dans  ses  oeuvres."  Later,  he  writes 
thus : A ces  affranchis  des  vieilles  lois  morales,  'a  ces  amoureux 

qui  veulent , contre  tout  et  contre  tous,  vivre  leur  vie,  il  faut , et 
tel  a ete  re  but  d6  It.  Bourget  dans  le  Pantone.  opposer  inlassable- 
ment  le  principe  eternei'de  touts  socie'te':  ’L’l lomne  a des  devoirs 
sacr^s  envers  les  autres  hommes.  II  n'a  pas  le  droit  d'elever  son 
honheur  sur  les  ruines  du  bonheur  d’ autrui.’" 

One  form  of  duty  is  to  keep  one’s  promises  and  follow  one’s  con- 
science.hot  only  Bourget  but  Fogazzaro  believes  this  strongly.  M. 

2 

Darras  in  Un  Divorce  says:  '”Je  me  suis  donne  ma  parole  que  je  re- 
parerais  ce  que  :'e  pouvais  reparer  de  ta  vie  passes  et  tu  connais 
-mon  grand  principe:  se  tenir  Na  tout  prix  toutes  les  paroles  que  1'on 
se  donne.  G’est  notre  religion,  a nous  qui  passons  pour  n’en  pas 
avoir;  c’est  la  plus  belle,  c'est  la  seule  vraie,  cells  de  la  con- 
science.’" Phis  doctrine  is  held  by  many  of  Bourget1 s characters, 
and  they  all  express  it  so  virilly  that  we  rather  believe  M.  Bourget 
half-way  agrees  with  them,  even  though  he  tries  to  prove  the  fallacy 

of  their  arguments  by  the  Christian  religion.  In  describing  the 

3 

youth  of  today  M.  Bourget  says:  "une  des  caracteristiques  de  cette 

4 

jeunesse  est  le  constant  appel  \ la  conscience;,.."  Darras  finds  the 

T.  L’ Unite  d'une  pens^6,  pp.  125-126 

2.  TJn  Divorce,  p,  65 

3.  TJn  Divorce,  p,  103.  Sam6  idea  pp.  128,  194,  213 

4.  Idem,  p.  374-375 


73. 

first  hitch  in  his  religion  of  conscience  when  his  wife  demands  the 


right  to  follow  her  conscience  and  go  hack  into  the  Church  which  can 
he  done  only  hy  remarriage.  This  is  one  wa y of  Mr.  B our get ' s for 
showing  how  this  theory  won't  work.  He  does  the  same  .in  he  Trihun 
when  he  has  M.  Portal,  after  teaching  his  son  the  religion  of  the 
individual  conscience  as  the  guide  of  life,  condemn  him  for  follow- 
ing his  own  conscience  in  his  love  affair  with  lime.  Claudel  and  his 
selling  valuable  papers.  Eor  him  the  doctrine  of  the  individual 

i/i  1 

conscience  means  war  on  the  family  (on  inheritance,  indissolubility 

of  marriage,  responsibility  of  parents  for  their  children's  actions, 

2 3 

and  religious  education.)  it  is  his  son,  his  wife  and  his  heart, 
who  show  the  falsity  of  his  beliefs.  Listen  to  Georges 'reply  to 
Bourdelot ; it  is  perhaps  the  most  striking  condemnation  of  individu- 
alism that  Bourget  has  written:  "Mon  p&re  et  toi,  vous  etes  de  la 
generation  des  pro  ss.  Moi,  je  suis  de  la  generation  du  reel. 

Et  je  ts  dis:  'Vous  n'avex  rien  fait,  rien,  pour  ce  qui  <ftait  le 
riel  de  votre  programme:  1 ' emancipation  de  1 ' individu. " Prenons  1'- 
ouvrier.  L' individu  ouvrier  est-il-  mo ins  esclave  qu'autref ois?  II 
l'etait  du  patron,  il  1'est  du  syndicai.  Quelle  est  la  difference? 
...Prenons  la  femme.  Est-ce  que  1 ' individu-femme  peut  vivre  libre- 
ment  sa  vie?  Oui , elle  peut  divorcer.  Et  toutes  celles  qui  n'ont 
pas  divorce”  la  meprisent . . . .Que  demain,  noi,  leur  fils,  je  re  mette 
en  menage  avec  une  femme  mar ice  a un  autre,  tu  ve  mas  si  ma  mere  et 

mom  pere  admettront  mon  droit  individuel  a 1 'amour  et  au  bonheur? 

4 

Et  pas  eux  seulsment , mais  tous  nos  amis."  M.  Monneron  is  another 

T.  Le  Tribun,  pp»  7-9 , 24-25 

2.  Idem,  p.  133 

3.  Id6m,  p.  230 

4.  Le  Tribun,  pp.  26-27 


74. 


of  these  characters  who  preach  the  religion  of  conscience.  He  says: 
,T,~Jn  etre  hnmain  est  une  raison,  une  conscience  et  une  volonte.  La 
raison  dit  a oous  e galement  cpuel  est  leur  devoir,  la  conscience  les 
avertit  tons  /galement  s'ils  ne  le  font  pas,  la  volonte'  serf  egale- 
ment  a la  faire  ou  a ne  pas  le  falre.’"  The  condemnation  here  comes 
in  the  wreck  of  the  home  built  on  this  idea.  Thus  as  always  Bourget 
makes  the  religion  of  conscience  fail.  Pogazzaro,  however,  never 
seems  to  have  thought  of  a religion  of  conscience.  Por  him  con- 
science is  not  separated  from  the  idea  of  the  Christian  religion, 
that  is  a voice  which  holds  one  hack  from  the  evils  condemned  by 
Christianity.  Many  of  his  characters  have  creeds  of  Truth  and  Jus- 
tice hut  none  of  Conscience.  Piero Ts  conscience  causes  him  terrible 

2 

struggles  and  always  reproaches  him  on  the  eve  of  sin.  As  to  broken 

promises,  Pogazzaro  mentions  it  only  once  when  Noemi  breaks  her  con- 

3 i 

fidence  with  Jeanne  and  tells  her  brother-in-law  Jeanne’s  secret. 

Pogazzaro  does,  however,  come  out  forcibly  in  his  plea  for  jus- 

4 

tice  and  for  a condemnation  of  injustice.  Luisa  Maironi  is  a most 
ardent  follower  of  Justice  and  Truth.  They  are  her  creed,  her  reli- 
gion. In  her  education  of  Maria  she  wants  to  teach  her  to  fight  in- 

5 6 

justice  and  tyranny.  She  hates  Austria  for  its  injustice  to  Italy, 

7 

the  marchesa  for  her  various  injustices  and  her  per secut ion^ and  wa.  ts 
to  have  her  receive  justice  and  pay  for  her  sins  (by  using  the  newly 

1.  L’Stape.  p.  458 

2.  The  Sinner,  pp.  156,  353 

3.  The  Saint . p.  189 

4.  The  Patriot. 


5.  Idem,  p.  243 

6.  Idem,  pp.  244-245 

7.  Idem,  pp.  135,  252-253,  458 


V 


■ 


. 


- 


1 

discovered  will  of  Franco's  grandfather).  Piero  follows  his  mother 

in  this  belief*  For  justice's  sake  he  is  ready  to  rive  hack  the 

2 

money  stolen  from  the  Ospitale  Maggiore,  even  though  Marchesa  Scre- 

min  and  Jeanne  don't  see  it  that  way  (Jeanne  sars:  "'Besides  after 

5 * ’ 

all, justice's  simply  a matter  of  opinion!  "')  he  was  even  ready  to 
qQ  away  and  do  manual  labor  for  justice’s  sake.  "’As  soon  as  the 
transfer  (of  the  money)  has  been  made,  I shall  go  to  France  for  stu- 
dy, and  perhaps,  also,  go  in  for  some  manual  labour.  That  will  be 
the  first  step  tow  rds  living  up  to  my  o -pin ion  of  justice,  towards 
becoming  in  all  things  the  man  my  mother's  great  and  peerless  soul 
would  have  wished  me  to  become.  Henceforth  my  earnest  endeavour 
shall  be  to  incarnate  my  mother's  ideal.  She  would  rejoice  to  see 
me  detach  myself  from  a social  class  whose  members  refuse  to  admit 
eternal  justice  because  they  fear  the  sacrifices  it  may  enjoin  upon 

them,  or  who  make  of  justice  a.  god  of  their  own  creating,  with  whom 

4 

it  is  less  difficult  to  balance  accounts;,..’"  And  then  at  his 
wife's  death-bed,  he  wakes  to  find  that  justice  without  the  support 
of  the  Christian  religion  must  always  fail.  This  is  Fogazzaro's 
real  idea.  He,  too,  believes  in  truth  and  justice  but  a truth  and 
justice  tempered  and  sweetened  by  Christianity.  Bourget's  charac- 
ters, also  cry  out  their  belief  in  justice  but  usually  he  considers 

5 

them  as  seeking  after  false  justice.  Portal  makes  of  justice,  as  he 
sees  it,  without  sentimentalism,  harsh  and  cold,  the  creed  and  reli- 

1.  The  Patriot,  yy.  269-270V  321 

2.  ?he  Sinner,  p.  325 
.3,  The  Sinner . p,  335 

4.  The  Sinner,  p.  339.  His  agricultural  Society,  p.  406,  developed 
. for  justice  % sake . 

5.  Lo  Tribun.  pp,  43,  84,  106,  116,  153,  155 


. 

. 


• . 


76. 


gion  by  which  he  guides  his  life.  At  the  last  he  find  such  harsh 

justice  does  not  work;  he  finds  he  has  a heart  and  refuses  to  con- 

1 2 

demn  his  son  before  the  law.  Both  Monneron  and  Cremieu-Dax  proclaim 
creeds  of  justice.  See  how  Monneron  failed,  how  his  family  brought 
up  on  this  doctrine  turned  to  evil  ways!  Jean  alone  was  saved  but 
it  was  through  the  Christian  religion.  Cremieu-Dax ' s beloved  Union 
Tolstoi,  built  on  the  idea  of  justice  and  equality  fails  too.  M. 
Darras,  another  great  apostle  of  Justice,  fails,  also,  in  his  home 
life  when  his  wife  goes  back  to  her  religion.  So  we  see  that  Bour- 
get,  too,  believes  that  justice  alone  is  not  sufficient.  We  needs 
must  have  the  Bible  on  which  to  base  our  ideas  of  justice  and  injus- 
tice. 

One  creed  that  he  does  believe  in  is  t at  of  work  and  service. 

Landri  finds  the  life  of  an  aristocrat  irksome.  " ' Je  veux  servir. 

Vous  entendes,  servir.  n’etre  pas  un  oisif  et  un  inutile,  un  home 

riche  avec  un  blason  plus  authentique  sur  ses  voitures,'”  says  he. 

5 

The  army  is  his  only  refuge;  so  he  joins  it.  In  I'Etape . this  old 
phrase  of  Seneca  comes  up:  " T Sinmilas  horas.  sinvulas  vi  . 1,1 

Bourget  seems  to  consider  this  a good  maxim,  even  though  it  come 

6 

from  Monneron,  for  he  condemns  it  in  no  way.  Maurice  Tod hunter 
quotes  from  the  marquis  de  Montfanon,  a chief  character*  of  Bourget Ts 
Cosmonolis : " ' Ce  n'est  pas  permis  a l’homme  ce  role-la  Cot  spectator) 

1.  IMEtape,  pp.  271.  455 

2.  Idem,  pp.  113,  129 

3.  Un  Divorce . pp.  154-155,  194-195,  212,  213,  216,  217 

4.  L 'Emigre^.  p.  31.  Same  idea  pp.  46,  397. 

5.  p.  300 

6.  West m i n s t e r R e v i e w . V.  144,  p.  603 


* 


. 


. : 


77. 


...II  faut  qu'il  arisse  et  il  agit  toujours,  m&me  quancl  il  croit  re- 

gar&er  settlement,  meme  quand  il  se  lave  les  mains  comme  Ponce  Pilate 

ce  dilettante  aussi  et  qui  disait  le  mot  de  vos  maitres  et  le  votre 

'Qu'est-ce  qne  la  verite?'  ’La  v£rit<^  c'est  qttTil  y a toujours  et  par 

tout  un  devoir  a remplir.’"'  Fogazzaro,  also  preaches  the  doctrine 

1 

of  work.  Luisa  is  an  untiring  worker,  who  thinks  she  does  no  more 

2 

than  her  duty  when  working  even  harder  than  she  should.  Franco  and 
his  indolent  living  off  of  other  people  comes  in  for  strong  condem- 
nation from  Luisa  (who  speaks  for  Fogazzaro),  When  Franco  finally 

5 

makes  up  his  mi;  d to  go  away  and  seek  work,  everyone  encourages  him. 

He  goes  away  and  succeeds.  Then  he  understands  that  Sod  requires 

4 

work-  as  well  as  faith.  Finally  cores  his  cry  "To  live,  to  live, 

(sic)  to  v/ork,  suffer,  adore  and  ascendl  (That  was  what  the  light 

demanded  I He  must  carry  the  living  away  in  his  arms,  carry  the  dead 

5 

away  in  his  heart, return  to  Turin,  work  for  Italy,  di6  for  her  I" 

6 

Daniels  Cortis  is  another  of  Fogazzaro1 s disciples  of  work  and  of 
comhat  for  right.  But  it  is  in  The  Patriot  that  we  "best  perceive 
his  views.  It  might  almost  be  called  a maxim  of  his, work  requires 
faith  and  faith  works.  This  is  Fogazzaro1 s idea,  of  work  (like  jus- 
tice it  requires  faith).  Fogazzaro J himself , worked  very,  very  hard 


7 

and  took  his  work  very  seriously. 

One  of  his  greatest  fears  in  life,  seems  to  have  been  the  fear 

1.  The  Patriot 

2.  - -C  ------ 1 , pp.  36,  18;  -161,  184,  238,  258.  Also  Gennari  p.  165 

Catholic  World.  V.  84,  p.  248 

3.  Idem,  pp.  261,  296-297 

4.  Idem,  pp.  326-328,  347-348 

5.  Idem,  p.  414 

6.  The  Politician.  See  Academy . V.  29,  p.  41 


7.  Scotti,  p.  164 


■ 


. 


78 


of  riches,  for  he  knew  how  hard  it  was  for  him  to  conquer  his  love 

1 - 

of  luxury. and  he  saw  also  what  a responsibility  riches  were:  " ’Mi 

sorprendo  spesso  in  pensieri  di  avarlzia.  Lei  intende  bene  che  non 
desidero  accumulate.  Li  quell 'avar is ia  la  ni  mane a la  tentazione. 
Invece  se  m’immagino  di  avere  un  giorno  o l’altro  ad  amministrsare  una 
sostanza  importante  in  f ondi ; se  enso  che  iniziando  a Caldogno  un 
si sterna  di  ripartizione  dei  frutti,  dovro .neeessariame:  te  applicarlo 
poi  a tutto  il  resto,  se  computo  la  grossa  somma  di  rendita  che  dov- 
rei  cedere  ai  eoltivatori , mi  cento  un  riiicrescimento  iu  o r.  eno  vi- 
vo oecondo  le  catti've  o buone  disposizioni  di  spirito.  Tutte  le  as- 
pirazioni  al  lusso,  all’eleganza  si  risvegliano  nel  mio  cuore  che  tu- 
te  le  sente.  Avere  una  dimora  ricca  di  belle  cose,  di  oggetti  d 1 2 3 4 * 6 arte 
mi- tenta;  mi  tenta  ridurre  la  casa  di  Yalsolda  secondo  un  piano  cos- 
toso;  mi  tenta  ospitare , raccogl'iere  molti  amici  spesso  e bene;  mi 
tenta  avere  denaro  in  copia  per  aiutare  chi  ne  abbisogna  e tutte 
quests  tentazioni  sono  favorite  da  cio  che  Ne  dif ricilissimo  farsi 
un  concetto  sicuro  ed  esatto  della  guistizia,  del  dovere  in  questa 
faccenda  degli  utili  agrari . Resisto  a ogni  modo  e credo  che  finiro 
con  l’abituarmi  all* idea.  Cio  che  mi  da  forza ve  il  pensare  all  pa- 
rola  di  Cristo  e al  bene  dei  miei  dipendenti.  Ha  in  quest 'ultima 

parte  ci  entra  pure  la  solita,  maledetta  vanita. 1 M , these  are  the 

2 

words  of  Pogazzaro  in  his  diary  for  February  19,  1894.  He  attacks 

5 4 

avarice  ( in  both  Marchesa  Haironi  and  Harchesa  Scremin  ) , love  of 
5 6 7 

luxury,  covetousness  (in  Pasotti  ) and  flattery  of  the  rich  . It  is 

1. '  ocotti,  pp.  162-164,  238 

2.  Scotti,  p.  244 

3.  Lhe  Patriot,  pp.  184,  427-428,  458 

4.  The  Sinner,  pp.  V,  26-27,  45,296;  also  the  Catholic  World.  Y.93, 
p.  526. 

The  Saint , p.  281;  The  Sinner;  p.  268,  342 

6.  The  Patriot,  p.  101 


7#  The  Sinner,  pp.  22 


79. 


usually  in  his  minor  characters  that  he  paints  these  evils,  for  his 

major  characters  are  marked  with  a strong  disdain  for  riches,  Franco, 
2 3 4 5 

Luisa,  Uncle  Piero,  Piero  and  Jeanne.  This  speech  of  Santa  Giulia 
shows  quite  clearly  what  Fogazzaro  thought  of  this  subject:  M ’They 
gave  me  willingly  a young  girl  worth  a great  deal  more  than  they 
were,  and  more  than  I am,  and  now  they  fight  tooth  and  nail  to  de- 
fend a paltry  sum  of  money;  refusing  it  to  me  when  it  would  have 

been  of  real  use,  and  persuading  her  to  lie,  I believe,  for  the  first 

6. 

time  in  her  life.'* From  these  remarks  we  can  see. that  Fogazzaro  con- 
demned avarice  most  of  all  the  vices  of  money,  Bourget,  however, 

condemns  luxury  and  extravagance  mainly.  This  quotation  from  The 

7 

nation  will  show  quite  plainly  where  Bourget  stands.  It  is  taken 
from  a review  of  his  Domestic  Dramas:  ,T?She  (line.  Prieux)  was  not  a 
monster  although  her  prolonged  exploitation  of  her  husband's  labor 
in  the  interest  of  a vain  passion  for  luxury  was  very  nearly  fero- 
cious; and  very  much  like  ferocity  also  was  her  present  procedure 
in  forcing  her  daughter  to  a cruelly  utilitarian  marriage.  It  was 
simply  that  her  conscience  had  been  vitiated  by  the  germs  of  corrup- 
tion with  which  the  social  atmosphere  is  filled--a  corruption  which 
current  morality,  solely  concerning  itself  with  breaches  of  the  sev- 
enth commandment,  scarcely  11  notices."'  In  the  same  article  we 

l.The  Patriot,  pp.  270,  313*. 

2. Idem,  p.  270 
3. Idem,  p.58 

4. The  Sinner,  pp.  61,  296,  326,  369,  405. 

5. Idem,  p.  342 

6. The  Politician,  pp.  285-284 


7 . V.  71',  p.  514 


80* 


also  fine!  this:  " Bourget’s  Mme . Le  Prieux  is  not  an  exceptional  in- 

stance of  that  ’fever  of  worldly  egoism  which  compels  one  for  ever 
to  compare  herself  with  her  richer  neighbor  and  to  go  on  increasing 

expenses,  complicating  life  foolishly  -(sometimes  tragically),  sacri- 

1 

ficing  the  reality  to  the  appearance , ’ " Bourget  again  describes  her 
thus:  "The  beautiful  Madame  Le  Prieux  is  still  a living  incarnation 

of  Vanity-Fair,  of  that  brilliant  and  artificial  Paris,  where  every- 

2 

body  lives  only  to  covet  his  neighbor's  luxury,"  Later  he  points 

out  quite  clearly  the  evil  effect  of  luxury  and  of  the  life  of  the 

3 

rich, on  a servant,  when  he  has  Chaffin  steal  and  later  shows  his  re  - 
4 5 

morse.  He  also  points  out  that  riches  do  not  maize  for  happiness. 

Extravagance  is  another  vice  of  money  that  he  notes  and  condemns,  es- 

6 V 

pecially  in  Mme,  Monneron  and  her  son  Antoine. 

But  there  is  an  even  greater  vice  which  he  points  out,  a vice 

which  harms  not  the  orie  who  practises  it  but  the  one  who  may  even 

be  innocent  of  it,  namely  gossip.  This  ^notation  from  his  L’ Irrepar- 
8 

able:  w’Les  femmes  ont  un  art  de  tout  dire  sans  rien  articuler,  qui 

leur  permet  de  parler  des  plus  vilaines  choses  de  ce  vilain  monde 

sans  y salir  de  la  pudeur  de  leur  conversation,’”  shows  it  well.  M. 

9 

de  Clavi6rs-Grandchamp  and  Landri  after  they  know  that  they  are  no 

1.  p.  515 

2.  Living  Age . V.  228,  p,  171- -A  Parisian  Household,  in'  English. 

3.  L ’Emigre',  p.  99 

4.  Idem,  p.  329 

5.  L’Etape , p.  87 

6.  Idem,  pp.  64-65,  72-73 

7.  Idem,  p.  73 

8.  Fortnightly  Review,  V.  57,  p.  668,  II.  Paul  Bourget,  by  Edward  De- 
lille . 

9.  L ’Emigre'',  pp.  284-285 


81 


longer  father  and  son,  are  forced  to  undergo  the  awful  moral  tor- 
i tue  of.  living  to-gether  to  keep  people  from  gossiping  about  their 

' name  and  family.  Again  Bourget  shows  the  force  of  public  opinion 

I I 1 

I when  he  pictures  Lucien  begging  Berthe  to  marry  him  and  thus  con- 

i found  the  gossips.  Fogazzaro  is  the  one,  however,  who  best  paints 

; this  evil.  The  Sinner  is  full  of  it.  All  of  the  minor  characters 

therein  seem  to  take  a delight  in  discussing  their  neighbors.  We 

are  plunged  right  into  a violent  gossip  fest  almost  at  the  begin- 
“2 

I ning.  Everything  was  discussed  there  except  the  sins  of  passion, 

I.  and  dogma.  From  the  very  littleness  of  the:,e  people  and  from  Fogas- 

zaro's  frequent  satirical  thrusts,  we  are  made  to  feel  the  lowness, 

the  most  disgusting  sides  of  this  vice.  Fogazzaro  never  once  makes 

it  attractive  and  we  soon  learn  to  despise  "These  honest,  middle- 

5 

class  mongrels."  Of  course  in  a town  like  this,  a woman  like  Jeanne 

Dessalle,  separated  from  her  husband,  is  going  to  be  gossiped  about 

I at  the  least  approach  of  a man.  She  is  so  moral  physically  that  it 

seems  a worse  evil  for  these  people,  who  probably  do  not  even  know 

4 

the  meaning  of  spiritual  evil,  to  condemn  her.  And  of  course  Pi- 
ero’s visits  and  evident  love  for  her  lay  him  open  to  the  same  sort 
I ; 5 

of  gossip.  Jeanne Ts  party  and  reception  offered  a splendid  oppor- 


tunity for  this  sort  of  evil.  Elena  and  Daniele's  friendship  and 

y 

love  offered  another  splendid  field,  and-  they  soon  found  it  was  well 


Un  Divorce,  p.  145 


PP* 

10-12, 

16-2 

0 

CO 

1 — 1 

• 

Ph 

The 

Sinner 

, E£ 

74-75,  172; The 

Saint,  p. 

190 

The 

Sinner 

, PP* 

128-129,  135, 

177,  322, 

364 

The 

Sinner 

, PP* 

266-269 

1 


82. 


cultivated.  The  gossiping  people  in  the  inn  who  are  nut  off  with 

2 3 

any  sort  of  lie,  and  the  evil  clergy  who  sow  secret  accusations  are 

both  pointed  out  by  Fogazzaro  in  a clearly  condemnatory  manner.  To 

overcome  this  evil  he  makes  it  an  individual  affair  when  he  has  the 

4 

abbot  quote  these  verses  from  Dante's  Inf erno : 

"Ad  ogni  ver  che  ha  faccia  di  mensogna 

Dee  l’uom  chiuder  la  bocca  quant' ei  puote, 

?er&  che  senza  colpa  fa  vsrgogna." 

Of  the  other  virtues  and  vices  that  our  authors  point  out  either 

5 6 7 

singly  or  together  are  charity,  mercy,  love  of  our  neighbors,  tem- 
8 9 10  11 

?ance,  grief  as  a purifier,  indecision,  persecution,  indigna- 
12 

tion  and  so.  In  fact  we  might  run  through  the  whole  list  of  virtues 
and  vices  as  given  in  the  Bible  and  find  that  Bourget  and  Fogazzaro 
had  not  overlooked  mentioning  any  one  of  them,  ilo  better  summary  of 
the  moral  ideas  of  these  two  men  could  be  given  than  that  they  both 
follow  closely  the  moral  code  of  the  Bible,  Bourget  flavoring  and 

1.  The  Politician,  p.  446-447 

2.  The  Saint , p.  398 

3.  The  Saint,  p.  410 

1 

4.  The  Saint,  p.  103^  from  inferno,  XVI,  124-6. 

5.  L'Dmirre . p.  388;  L'Ftape , p.  369;  The  Saint , pp.  190,  225,  257, 
294;  The  Politician,  p.  262 

6.  h 'Xmigrd',  pp.  205,  297,  339;  L 'Etape , p.  247;  The  Patriot,  pp. 
270-271,  321;  The  Politician,  pp.  123,  218 

7.  The  Saint,  pp.  185-136. 

8.  L'Ptape . pp.  109,  125;  La  Barricade , Preface,  p.  XXIII. 

9.  Discorsi , p.  32;  Gennari , pp.  88,  133 
10. I' Emigre,  p.  235 

11.  The  Patriot,  p.  212,236,237,352,357;  The  Sinner ; p.  130 

12.  The  Saint,  p.  185;  The  Patriot,  p.357;  Gennari , pp.  31,68,138 


83 


enlarging  it  by  his  ideas  of  tradition,  Fogazzaro  defining  it  more 

simply  by  a close  and  actual  following  of  the  life  of  Christ.  Let 

us  now  quote  some  summaries  by  other  critics,  first  of  Bourget  and 

1 

then  of  Fogazzaro.  M.  Renard  says:  ”11  expliqua  comment  le  vaga- 

bondage a trovers  le  temps  et  l'espace,  devenu  une  habitude  et  un 
besoin  de  notre  civilisation,  a multiple  parmi  nous  la  race  des  di- 
lettantes; il  s ' attacha  h prouver  que  1' esprit  d‘ analyse  et  le  raf- 
finement  du  gout  ont  pervert i 1* amour,  quand  ilsnel'ont  pas  rendu 
impossible;  il  montra  l'usure  que  1 ' abuse  de  la  pens^e  et  le  sur- 
menage  du  cerveau  produisent  sur  le  corps,  le  sentiment  et  la  vol- 

ont/ ; il  constata  des  conflits  entre  la  speculation  et  1'action,  en- 
tire la  science  et  la  poesie , en- 
tre la  democratic  et  la  haute  culture;  il  conclut  qu'il  se  ddgageait 

de  tout  cela  corame  une  vapeur  de  tristesse  qui  enveloppait  le  monde 

d*un  nuage  chaque  jour  plus  dpais , et  il  donna  pour  le  dernier  mot 

de  la  philosophie  du  jour  un  pessimisms  tr£s  sombre  teintd”  d'un  va- 

2 

gue  mysticisme";  he  also  says  this:  "il  s'intitule  quelque  part 

'moralists  de  decadence,'  en  dormant  cette  fois  au  not  de  moraliste 

r? 

c 

le  sens  de  peintre  de  moeurs."  Mr.  Luuis  Bertrand  pictures  him 

thus:  ”11  nous  rapprend  la  voie  veritable  du  progres,  qui  est  celle 

de  la  perfection.  Il  n'y  a de  progres,  que  dais  le  sens  du  parfait, 

c 1 2 3 4 est-&-dire  de  I'ordre,  de  la  beauts,  de  la  bont<= , de  la  verite^ 

dans  le  domaine  des  institutions,  des  moeurs  et  le  i /os,  doit  'etre 

eonsidere  comme  une  regression,  Mais  cet  ordre  ne  se  f onde , que 

4 

sur  le  reel,  ...  Mr.  Edward  Delille  has  this  statement  ”'je  suis 

1.  Les  Princes  de  la  Jeune  Critique,  p.  240 

2.  p.  260 

3.  Revue  des  d6ux  monies  (Dec.  15,  1920),  p.  743 


4.  Fortnightly  R e v i e w . V.  57,  p.  662 


„ 84. 

un  moraliste  de  decadence,'  says  somewhere  M.  Bourget  on  the  subject 

of  the  general  disjointedness  of  an  age  torn  limb  from  limb  by  seven 

devils,  the  titles  of  some  of  which  f in-de-siecle  fiends,  as  given 

in  the  Bourget  gospel,  are,  ' pessimism, ' 'morbid  lust,1 2 3 4 5 6  'excess  of 

analysis,'  'lack  of  faith,'  and  the 'spirit  of  dilettantism  "'  Brorr 

1 

hr.  Jules  lemattre  we  have  this:  "Mais  le  fond  de  son  coeur  et  de 

son  etre,  c'est,  je  pense,  un  tr^s  douloureux  souci  de  la  vie  morale, 

1' impossibility  de  s'en  tenir  au:  plaisirs  de  la  curiosity  et  de  la 

2 

spyculation.”  Bourget  himself  makes  these  statements*  ” Moralement 
et  phy  si  querent , cette  influence  d'un  mdme  climat,  d'un  irrdme  nourri- 

ture,  d'un  mtme  site,  de  m^mes  travaux,-  marque  la  race  d'une  em- 

^5  ^ 

preinte  particuliere, * "J’ai  tenu  a inscrire,  en  fete  du  Tribun.  cet 

aphorisms  de  Bonald:  'En  morale,  tout  ce  qui  n'est  pas  aussi  ancien 

que  1'homme  est  une  erreur.'"  Let  us  pass  now  to  a consideration  of 

4 

Fogazzaro  as  the  critics  see  him.  Mr.  Henri  Hauvette  says’ if  him: 

"C'est  surtout  un  peintre  d'ames  qui  s 'inspire  d'une  conception  tres 

haute  et  tres  noble  de  la  vie;..."  In  speaking  of  The  Sinner.  The 

ITation  makes  a statement  which  might  well  be  taken  as  representative 

of  some  of  Fogaz zero's  other  works:  "Towards  the  envy,  the  hatred, 

the.  intrigues , the  mockery,  the  scandal-mongery  of  a provincial  city, 

he  could  scarcely  be  tender  and  he  shows  that,  in  this  case,  at 

least , the  finest  humor  is  inseparable  from  love."  In  the  Living 

6 

- w we  find  this  about  him:  "The  pathos  and  dignity  of  suffering, 

1.  Les  Contemporains--V.  5,  p.  354 

2.  Preface  to  Le  Tribun,  p.  XVIII. 

3.  p.  XXXVI 

4.  Littyrature  italienne,  p.  491 


5.  V.  73,  p.  210 

6.  V.  235,  p.  593 


85 


of  sorrow,  of  the  heavy  harden  bravely  borne;  the  nobility  of  faith 
and  courage;  the  beauty  of  simplicity  in  life  and  art;  the  charm  of 

tenderness  and  the  sustaining  power  of  love--these  are  the  sources 

1 

of  this  writer's  genius,  both  in  prose  and  verse;”  and  later  we 

find  this,  ”his  influence  is  wholly  for  good--the  forer.ost  moral  in- 

2 

fluence  moulding  young  Italy,”  Fogazzaro  himself  gives  us  a splen- 
did picture  of  his  own  ideal:  "’Purezza  del  pensiero,  della  parola 
e della  vita.  Concetto  dell'arte:  rappresentazione  dell ’universo 
e dell'uomo  in  s£  e nelle  sue  relazioni  con  la  natura,  con  i suoi 
simili  e con  Dio,  fatta  con  una  giusta  e religiosa  idea  di  queste 
relazioni,  la  quale  penetri  tutta  1’ opera  artistica.  Concetto  dell- 
artista:  un  ingegno  creato  da  Dio  per  (questa)  rappresentazione  e 
che  dovr^,  render  conto  del  suo  mandato.  Dunque  non  aprire,  per 
quanto  h possibile,  il  cuore  al  desiderio  dei  premi  puramente  unani. 
Don  cercare  la  fama,  non  crucciarsi  della  indifferenza  pubblica  o 
almeno  opporsi  virilmente  a questi  crucci  interiori,  non  guastare 
con  troppa  volutta  la  lode  e il  successo,  Don  cercare  il  guadagno, 
rendere  che  se  l1 2 ingegno  :i  b dato  gratuit ament e,  la  parte  piu 
grande  e migliore  delle  opere  d'arte  dev'essere  pur  data  graduita- 
mente  e che  se  Is  no  vi  ha  per  l’artista  e che  questo  nonne  ab- 
bia  bisogno  per.  vivere,  il  suo  guadagno  deve  tutto  spendersi,  a par- 
te le  opere  di  carit^i  e salva  la  ragionevole  mi  sura,  per  r/igliorare 
e continuare  la  produzione  artistica,  Rinunciare  all’ amor e umano 
fino  a che  questa  rinuncia  h ancora  un  volontario  sacrificio.  Vi- 
vere e governarsi  in  modo  da  poter  piu  facilmente  mantenere  questo 

v 

proposito.  Preghiera,  lav or o , vita  parca.  Sopra  tutto  preghiera, 
herno  ppteSt  esse  continens  nisi  Deus  det.,,T 


1.  p.  394 

2.  Scotti,  La  Vita  di  Antonio  Fogazzaro.  pp.  104-105 


... 


1 u 


‘5. 


, 


86. 

From  this  let  us  turn  to  a consideration  ox  the  attitude  of 

Bourget  and  Fogazzaro  towards  dogmatic  religion.  They  are  both 

Catholics  and  profoundly  convinced  of  the  need  of  religion  as  a mor- 

1 

al  as  well  as  a spiritual  guide.  Hear  Fogazzaro  describe  his  re- 
ligious  ideas ’Ecco  l'anima  mia , la  mia  fede.  Sono  cattolico,  in- 
tendo  essere  cattolico,  spero  di  morire  nel  grernbo  della  chiesa 
cattolica,  confortato  dai  suoi  sacramenti , dalle  sublimi  parole 
ch’ella  dirige  ai  moribondi,  fra  le  quali  vi  sono  anche  quests  igno- 
rantias  eius  quaesumus  ne  memineris , Domine.  'Signore  non  ricor- 
darti  dei  suoi  errori."  Sono  cattolico  e credo  di  poterlo  essere 
senza  associarmi  in  tut to  a quell!  che  Lei  chiama  farisei.  dei  qual- 
i dir&  che,  se  sono  in  buona  fede,  li  rispetto  se  non  li  compiango. 
Deploro  come  Lei  e piu  di  Lei  I’abuso  dells  s comuni che  e,  come  Lei 
dice  tanto  bene,  tutte  le  imperfezioni  nel  Corpo  della  Chiesa,  tut- 
ta  la  mondanit^.  da  cui  6 penetrate.  Hon  voglio  giii  Lie  are  nessuno 
perche  Cristo  me  lo  vieta,  ma  riconoseo  quanto  Lei  tutto  il  male 
fatto  dal  clero  cominciando  dai  papi,  nessun  decreto  di  Roma  mi 
persuade  che  certi  libri  come  le  Cin,  e riaghe  della  Chiesa  di  An- 
tonio Rosmini  sieno  cattivi.  Onoro  e credo  superiors  a me  lo  spir- 
ito  semplice  che  prega,  per  esempio,  dicendo  il  rosario,  ma  mi  ten- 
go  liberissimo  di  prepare  a mo  do  mio,  liberissimo  di  disapproval's 
nella  mia  coscienza  e con  par o la  se  n'e  il  caso  certs  effeminate, 
false,  misere , direi  persino  riougnanti  devosioni  che  si  sono  intro- 
dott6  nella  Chiesa  Cattolica.  Deploro  le  esagerazioni  nel  culto  dei 
Santi,  ma  credo  tuttavia  nella  potenza  di  quest i Spirit i che  hanno 
operato  il  bene,  credo  alle  relazioni  che  possono  correre  fra  essi 
e noi,  sento  quanto  h naturals  talvolta  di  parlare a quest i fratelli 
1.  In  Scotti's  La  Vita  di  Antonio  Fogazzaro.  p.  120.  For  another 
by  himself  see  pp.  316-517 


-i 


87 


di  1 h dalla  tomba  che  sono  in  Dio;  deplora  che  i gran  santi  del 
pensiero  cattolico,  8.  Agostino,  8.  Tomaso,  3.  Bonaventura,  S. 
Girolamo  e tanti  altri  non  sieno  conosciuti  e onorati  abb  stanza. 
Credo  buono  anohe  l'uso  dei  sacrament!  quando  non  e fatto  per  abi- 
tudine,  ma  per  impulso  del  cuore.  Odio  le  intollerenze , odio  il 
gretto  formalismo  in  cui  molti  vorrebbero  imprigionare  il  sentimen- 
to  religioso.  Quando  odo  per  esempio  dei  cattolici  zelanti  profer- 
ire  parole  poco  caritatevoli . Contro  chi  viola  il  precetto  del  ma- 
gro  o del  digiuno , l'animc  mia  si  sdegna  non  contro  la  Chi6sa  catto- 
lica,  ma  contro  i suoi  ministri,  i snoi  sorittori  che  educano  a 
questo  modo  le  coscienze,  che  sono  cosi  fuori  dello  spirito  cristi- 
ano.,T  Should  we  attempt  to  give  the  ideas  of  all  the  critics  on 
this  subject  we  should  find  our  study  lengthened  far  out  of  propor- 
tion; so  we  have  chosen  two  of  the  most  striking  criticisms  in  re- 

1 

gard  to  each  man.  Prof,  kenne t h ilcEenzie  describes  Fogazzaro  thus: 
"A  devout  Roman  Catholic,  Fogazzaro  nevertheless  accepted  the  doc- 
trine of  evolution  and  other  discoveries  of  modern  science  and 
strove  to  reconcile  them  with  the  doctrines  of  religion.  Further- 
more, he  was  conscious  of  tendencies  in  the  church  which  needed 
change;  and,  like  Dante,  he  wished  to  aid  in  reforming  the  church 
while  still  remaining  submissive  to  its  authority.  He  was  thus  al- 
lied to  neither  of  the  two  groups  which  include  the  great  majority 
of  Italians  in  this  2Qth  Century;  namely,  the  strictly  clerical  par- 
ty, who  regard  all  independence  in  religion  as  heresy;  and  those 
who  are  indifferent  or  openly  hostile  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
and  often  to  all  forms  of  religion.”  Another  good  description 


1.  Yale  Review.  n.s.,Y.  1,  p.  120 


- 


88 


1 

of  Fogazzaro  is  that  of  Hiss  Dara  M.  Jones:  "He  was  simply  a Lit- 

eral Catholic  of  the  old-fashioned  school.  He  wished  to  see  the 
new  Testament  more  read;  the  precepts  of  the  gospel  more  strictly 
followed;  he  wished  to  see  the  priests  less  given  to  political  in- 
trigue and  their  flocks  less  addicted  to  puerile  devotions.  He 
tried  to  work  for  practical  reforms  in  the  church;  hut  there  is  no 
evidence  in  his  writings  that  he  either  knew  or  cared  much  about 

the  problems  of  Biblical  criticism  and  textual  research."  Most  of 

£ 

these  ideas,  Fogazzaro  gained  from  Antonio  Rosmini  whom  he  so  loved 

and  admired.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Fogazzaro  was  irtense- 
3 

ly  religious,  far  more  so  than  Bourget  who  saw  religion  mainly  as  a 

4 

tool  for  his  moral  teachings.  Miss  Hannah  Lynch  gives  this  rather 
bitter  but  true  idea  of  Bourget:  "His  Catholicism  is  the  mere  di- 
lettantism of  a thinker  who  finds  in  the  church  the  reason  for  his 

1.  Contemporary  Review . Y.  99,  p.  567 

£.  See  Fogazzaro’ s essays  on  him  in  Liscorsi . pp.  153-£37;  also 
Scotti,  p.  £9£ , £95. 

3.  For  the  ideas  of  other  critics  see,  Scotti,  pp.  196,  £46,  4££, 
467,  530,  548-549 ; Living  Age,  V.  £49,  pp.  £86-£87;  V.  ££1,  pp. 
647-648;  But  • iT  s -onthly . Y.  2,  p.  £8;  Donadoni,  pp.  9,  24,  26- 
3£,  57  (very  adverse  criticism);  Academy . V.  29,  p.  41;  Cathol- 
ic forld..  V,  95,  pp.  516-517;  Current  Literature.  Y.  51,  pp.  223- 
224;  Bdinbur  :h  Review,  V.  214,  pp.  269,  283,  286-288,  291;  Con- 
te mp o r a r y R e v i e w , Y.  99,  p.  562;  Gennari , pp.  37,  47,  52,  72,  74, 
87,  141,  206;  Rumor,  pp.  16,  28. 

4.  Contemporary  Review,  V.  82,  p.  360 


89. 


personal  prejudices,  the  convenient  recognition  of  the  mystical 
side  of  his  character.”  "l* auteur  du  Fant<3me  croit  sur^t  out  au 

■"  - - 'w' 

Decalogue  et  a Jehovah  qui  chatie:  ’Cette  formidable  loi,  ^crit- 
il  dans  un  homme  d'affaires,  cette  reversibility  des  faut6S  pater- 

nelles  sur  les  enfant s qui  est  le  f.  iid  nerne  du  d chreticn.  * 

Mais  la  fraternite  des  hommes,  leur  egalite  devant  Dieu,  leur  Pere, 
et  toutes  les  consequences  sociales  qui  en  decoulent,  directement 

ou  indirectenent , II.  Paul  Bourget  paralt  les  ignorer  encore,"  says 

1 

Mr.  Jean  Linnnet.  The  critics  have  very  little  to  say  of  Bourget 

8 1 

and  his  religion  and  that  little  is  usually  disparaging.  This  comes 
no  doubt  from  the  fact  that  Bourget  saw  in  religion  primarily  a mo- 
ral guide  which  fitted  very  nicely  his  traditi  malistic  theories. 

He  never  seems  to  have  sincerely  and  whole-heartedly  studied  the 
Catholic  religion.  He  simply  accepted  it,  without  any  great  love 
or  sympathy.  .We  feel  that,  had  the  church  not  furthered  his  idea 
of  morals  as  based  on  tradition,  he  would  have  condemned  it  strong- 
ly. 

This  idea  of  religion  as  a guide  in  our  moral  life  is  one  of 
the  strongest  doctrines  that  he  and  Fogazzaro  preach.  Let  us  now 
consider  them  in  this  respect.  We  shall  not  go  into  detail  in  this 
matter  for  we  have  shown  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter  many  in- 
stances of  this  idea.  Bourget  showed  us  only  too  well  that  the 

E 

lack  of  religion  leads  one  into  divorce  with  all  its  evils;  that  a 

1.  L*  Evolution  des  idees.  Y.  1,  p.  209.  For  the  ideas  of  other 
critics  see,  Bimnet,  pp.  88,  92,  98;  Contemporary  Review,  V,  82, 

p.  35.8;  Th  e II  e w P.  e pub  lie.  Y.  2,  p.  133;  Sageret,  pp.  63,64,66, 

82;  Bloy,  pp.  141,  144-145,  149;  Athenaeum.  1902  pt . 1,  p,  718 

2.  TJli  Divorce,  pp.  19-26  ,30-31 ,35 ,40 , 200-201,  22:7^229 ,242-243^46,247,268^83 


90. 


family  raised  only  on  the  creed  of  Justice  will  fail  for  lack  of 

1 

the  firm  moral  support  of  religion  in  time  of  darkest  need  and  that 

2 

one  brought  up  in  the  faith  will  have  all  sorts  of  joy  and  peace; 

and  that  a nobleman  must  have  and  keep  his  faith  the  Catholic 

religion  to  uphold  his  family  name  and  the  traditions  of  his  ances- 
3 

tors.  Let  us  now  hear  some  of  Bourget's  direct  statements  in  this 
matter  of  religion  as  a moral  guide.  ,MEn  morale,  toute  doctrine 
qui  n’est  pas  aussi  aneienne  ciue  la  soci^te  est  une.  erreur.  Car  la 
societe  n’est  pas  une  creation  conventionelle  de  l’homme,  c'est  un 
phenomena  de  nature  et  oui  exists  d'apres  des  lois  interieures  que 
nous  devons  constater,  pour  nous  y soumettre:  Deux  de  ces  lois, 
verifiers  depuis  1* origins  des  ages,  sont  I'inegalite  et  la  douleur, 
L’homme  a en  meme  temps  deux  aspirations,  ve'rifie'es  elles  aussi  a 
travers  les  siecles;  la  justice  et  le  honheur.  La  Revolution  a 
oonnu  ces  deux  lois,  et,  & cause  de  cela,  elle  avorte  piteusement. 

Le  paganisms  meconnaissait  ces  deux  aspirations, a cause  de  cela,  il 
n’a  pu  durer.  Le  christianisme  seul  interprets  I’inegalite  et  la 
douleur.  II  leur  donne  un  sens  de  justice  et  d’esperance.  II  hier- 
archise et  il  consols.  louts  oeuvre  socials  faite  en  dehors  de  lui 
croit  semer  1’amour  et  elle  moissonne  la  revolte;  1 ’apaisement , et 
elle  moissonne  la  haine...Il  n’y  a qu’un  Chretien  qui  puisse  aider 
le  pauvre  sans  l’humilier  et  l’encourager  sans  lui  mentir,  tout  s im- 
plement parce  qu’il  ne  lui  dit  pas:  Vous  £tes  ou  serez  mon  egal. 

4 

mais  je  suis  votre  semblable .... 1 2 3 4 ” Note  the  strength  and  virility 


1.  L’Btape.  pp.  25,  224,  254-255,  269,  271,  297-298,  307,  332-333. 

2.  L’Etape , pp.  38-39,  494-500 

3.  L ’Emigre,  pp.  30-31,  47,  188-189,  246 

4.  I ’Et  ape,  pp.  125-126. 


91. 

1 

of  this  statement  which  Bourget  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Jean  Monneron: 
"'Oui  ou  non,  est-ce  un  fait  que  le  Christ ianisme  a maintenu  dix 
huit  siecles  durant , les  societes  dans  un  etat  de  vitalite*  profonde' 
Est-ce  un  fait  que,  toutes  les  fois  qu'il  a diminu£,  en  italie  a la 
Renaissance,  il  y a cent  ans  en  France,  le  lien  moral  s'est  relache, 
et  que  l'homme  s'est  degrade?  Pour  prendre  la  France  encore  en  ex- 
ample , est-ce  un  fait  que  les  grandes  periodes  de  son  histoire,  le 
trezieme  et  le  dix-septieme  siecls,  ont  ete  celles  ou  sous  un  saint 
Louis,  sous  un  Louis  XIII,  elle  etait  le  plus  profondement* le  plus 
ahsolument  catholique?  Est-ce  un  fait,  au  contraire,  que  depuis  89, 
nous  nous  dehattons  dans  1 ' impuissance  a rien  fonder  qui  dure  avec 
les  idees  antiphysiques  de  la  Revolution?  Ron,  le  Christ ianisme 
n'a  pas  le  m§me  principe  que  cette  Revolution.  II  en  a un  contraire 
et  1* experience  nous  autorise  a conclure  qui,  de  css  deux  principes, 
celui  dont  1 ' application  s'est  tou jours  accompagnee  de  sante  est 
vrai,  c'est-a-dire  conforms  a la  nature  des  choses,  et  1' autre, 
non.*"  Perhaps  .bourget  expresses  his  thought  best  in  this  one  short 
sentence:  "II  y a dans  1‘Eglise  un  tel  tresor  de  seculaire  exper- 
ience que  ses  representants  arrivent  toujours  a la  verite  morale, 

2 

fut-ce  a travers  d 1 extravagant es  erreurs  politiques."  From  these 
statements  it  can  he  seen  how  truly  Bourget  thought  religion  a mo- 
ral guide.  But,  lest  it  be  not  quite  plain,  let  us  consider  the 

statements  of  one  or  two  of  Pour^et's  most  striking  critics.  . lr . 

3 


A.L.Guerard  makes  this  statement:  "In  France,  that  overwhelming 

17  "L^'^peTP^ST 

2.  L 1 St ape . p.  400 


3.  Five  Masters  of  French  Romance,  pp.  201-202 


. 

•w 

■ 

- 

' 

. 


92 


tradition,  which  silences  the  selfish  revolt  of  the  individual,  is 
embodied  in  the  Catholic  Church.  In  his  bold  pictures  of  sinful 
lov 6 , Bourget  has  shown  whither  natural  man  is  led  unrestrained  by 
some  moral  authority  not  centered  in  himself.  There  ar6  diseases 
of  the  soul,  as  there  are  diseases  of  the  flesh.  There  must  be  a 
moral  prophylax  and  a moral,  hygiene.  And  of  these  Home  has  the 
secret."  "Therefore,  according  to  l;i.  Bourget,  the  first  thing  a 
frenchman  has  to  do  is  to  abandon  his  ideology  and  his  collectivism, 
which  lead  only  to  anarchical  and  incoherent  forms  of  misery  and  to 
humble  himself  before  the  church,  by  the  aid  of  which  alone  a whole- 
some society  can  be  rebuilt  on  the  ruins  of  a hundred  years  of  re- 

1 2 

volutionary  madness,"'  remarks  Edmund  C-osse.  The  Critic  repeats 
this  very  striking  remark  of  Li.  Bourget:  "'In  the  same  way  I have 
come  to  recognize  that  those  men  and  women  who  follow  the  teachings 
of  the  church  are  in  a great  measure  protected  from  the  moral  dis- 
asters which  as  1 have  shown  in  my  novels,  and  as  Eeuillet,  Tol- 
stoi and  so  many  others  have  'shown- in  theirs,  almost  invariably 
follow  when  men  and  women  allow  themselves  to  be  guided  and  s rayed 
by  their  senses,  passions  and  w k esses."'  If  one  consider,  all 
of  these  statements  carefully,  l believe  no  further  proof  of  hour- 
get's  religio-moral  system  will  be  necessary.  After  considering 
Eogazzaro  we  shall  find  the  same  to  be  true  of  him,  for  this  matter 
is  an  important  one  to  both  men.  Eogazzaro,  too,  teaches  that  a 
home  based  on  untrue  religious  ideas  and  divided  about  the  question 

1.  French  Profiles,  p.  263 

2.  V.  23,  p.  130;  for  the  opinion  of  other  critics,  see  The  Academy 
V.  59,  p.  485;  Stephens,  pp.  157,  ICO;  Fortnightly  Review.  V.  9^ 
p.913 ; ,Dimnet , pp.  96-97 


/ 


. 


- 

' 


_ 


, , 


■ . 95 . 

1 

I of  religion,  as  Franco  and  Luisa  were,  can  only  come  to  grief; 

[ that  sensuality  needs  religion  as  a source  of  control  and  restraint, 

2 

as  it  saves  Piero  in  The  Sinner  and  that  true  faith  keeps  people 

[ from  sin,  and  leads  to  divine  love,  as  it  did  in  the  case  of  Daniele 
3 

and  Siena,  Ho .doubt  his  best  stroke  lies  in  the  clear  picture  of 
Luisa's  moral  chaos  after  the  death  of  her  child.  The  darkness  a- 
i round  her  is  hopeless  because  of  her  lack  of  faith  in  God  and  reli- 
gion while  Franco,  sustained  by  his  religious  belief,  rises  above 

it  all,  triumphant.  Whenever  it  comes  to  a real  crisis  Fogazzaro 
1 4 5 

l shows  that  the  creed  of  Justice  (such  as  Luisa  and  her  son  Piero 

had)  fails.  Fogazzaro  seldom  comes  out,  in  his  novels,  and  says 

[ as  plainly  as  Bourget  what  he  thinks,  but  he  brings  out  his  ideas 

| through  the  actions  or  preachings  of  his  characters.  Listen  to  Ben- 

edetto, the  so-called  saint,  advise  his  disciples  and  the  priests 
as  he  lies  on  his  death-bed:  "'Pray  without  ceasing,  and  teach  others 
i to  pray  without  ceasing.  This  is  the  fundamental  principle.  When 
a man  really  loves  a human  being,  or  an  idea  of  his  own  mind,  his 
secret  thoughts  are  ever  clinging  to  his  love,  while  he  is  attend- 
ing to  the  many  various  occupations  of  his  life,  be  it  the  life  of 
I a servant,  or  the  life  of  a king;  and  this  does  not  prevent  his  at- 
tending carefully  to  his  work,  for  he  has  no  heed  to  speak  many 

1. '  The  Patriot,  op."  l"f-l<r  , * , 11 , ,19,3 

409-417,  486;  Catholic  World.  V.  84,  pp.  249-250;  Idem,  V.93,p. 
524. 

2.  pp.  57,  59;  for  other  references  see  paragraphs  above  under  the 
discussion  of  morality. 

3.  The  Politician,  pp.  452-455;  Catholic  World,  Y.  84,  p.  244. 

1 4.  The  Patriot,  p.  506. 

5.  The  Sinner,  p.  375 

- . 

" 


. 


. 


. 


* 


. 


i 


94. 

words  to  his  love.  Men  who  are  of  the  world  may  carry  thus  in 
their  hearts  some  1 being,  some  ideal  of  truth,  or  of  beauty, 

Do  you  always  carry  in  your  breasts  the  Father  whom  you  have  not 
seen,  but  whom  you  have  felt  as  a spirit  of  lore,  b 'in 

you;  a spirit  which  filled  you  with  the  sweetest  desire  to  live 

°e 

for  Him.  If  you  will  do  this  your  labours  will  be  all  alive  with 
the  spirit  of  Truth.  ...Be  pure  in  your  lives,  for  otherwise  you 
will  dishonour  Christ  before  the  world.  Be  pure  in  your  thoughts, 
for  otherwise  you  will  dishonour  Christ  before  the  spirits  of  good, 
and  the  spirits  of  evil,  which  strive  together  in  the  souls  of  all 
livi:  g beings.  ...Be  holy.  Seek  neither  riches  nor  honours.  Put 
your  superfluous  possessions— measured  by  the  inner  voice  of  the 

Spirit— into  a common  fund  for  your  works  of  truth  and  of  charity. 
Give  friendly  help  to  all  the  human  suffering  you  may  encounter; 
be  meek  with  those  who  offend  you,  who  deride  you,  and  they  will  be 
many,  even  within  the  Church  herself;  be  dauntless  in  the  presence 
of  evil;  lend  yourselves  to  the  necessities  of  one  another,  for  if 
you  do  not  live  thus  you  cannot  serve  the  Spirit  of  Truth.  Live 
thus,  that  the  world  may  recognize  the  Truth  by  your  fruits ,. that 
your  brothers  may  recognize  by  your  fruits  that  you  belong  to 
Christ.  ...Let  each  one  perform  his  religious  duties  as  the  Church 
prescribes,  according  to  strict  justice  and  with  perfect  obedience. 
...Each  should  feel  God’s  presence  within  himself,  but  each  should 

feel  it  also  in  the  other,  and  I feel  it  so  strongly  in  you.  Yes, 
...this  is  the  true  foundation  of  human  fraternity,  and  therefore 
those  who  love  their  fellow  men  and  believe  they  are  cold  toward 
God  are  nearer  the  Kingdom  than  many  who  imagine  they  love  God,  but 


. 


- 


. 

. 


. 


95. 


who  do  not  love  thei*r  fellow-men.  ...Purify  the  faith  for  grown 
men,  who  cannot  thrive  on  the  food  of  infants.  ...Work  to  glorify 
the  idea  of  God,  worshipping  above  all  things,  and  teaching  that 
there  is  no  truth  which  is  opposed  to  God  or  to  His  laws.  But  be 
equalise  cautious  that  the  infants  do  not  approach  their  lips  to 
the  food  for  grown  men.  Be  not  offended  by  an  impure  faith,  an  im- 
perfect faith,  when  the  life  is  pure  and  the  conscience  upright; 
for  in  comparison  with  th6  infinite  depths  of  God,  there  is  little 
difference  between  your  faith  and  the  faith  of  a simple,  humble  wo- 
man, and  if  the  woman ’ s conscience  be  upright,  and  her  life  pure, 
you  will  not  pass  before  her  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  ...Labour 
that  the  purified  faith  may  penetrate  into  life.  Phis  labour  is  far 
those  who  are  in  the  church, --and  for  those  who  wish  to  be  in  the 
church— and  their  name  is  legion.  ...Teach  such  as  these  who  pray 
abundantly,  often  idolatrous 1 y , to  practise,  besides  the  prayers 
which  are  prescribed,  the  mystic  prayer  as  well,  in  which  is  the  j 
purest  faith,  t]  perfect  1 e,  the  most  perfect  charity,  which 

in  itself  purifies  the  soul  and  purifies  lif e . " . . .when  the  priest’s 
turn  came,  he  murmured:  ■master,  and  to  us."  The  dying  man  composed 
himself  and  replied:  ’Be  poor,  live  in  poverty.  Be  perfect.  Take 
no  pleasure  in  titles  nor  in  proud  vestments,  neither  in  personal 
authority  nor  in  collective  authority.  Love  those  who  hate  you; 
avoid  factions;  make  peace  in  God’s  name;  accept  no  civil  office; 
do  not  tyrannise  over  souls,  nor  seek  control  of  them  too  much;  do 
not  train  priests  artificially;  pray  that  you  may  be  many,  but  do 
not  fear  to  be  few;  do  not  think  you  need  much  human  knowledge , -- 

1 

you  need  only  much  faith  in  the  universal  and  inseparable  Truth.”  ;i 


1.  The  Saint , pp.  46Q-466 


' 


.. 


. 


. 

■ 


■ 


96. 


This  gives  us  an  excellent  idea  of  Fogazzaro’s  attitude  towards  the 
conduct  of  daily  life.  We  could  easily  go  through  his  works  and 

find  all  of  these  points  singly  any  number  of  times^  but  this  rather 

1 

clear  summary  seemed  better  than  presenting  the  ideas  piece-meal. 

In  Pi sc or si  we  have  a more  direct  statement  by  Pogazzaro  about  re- 
ligion as  a moral  guide:  "E  davvero , senza  dire  che  nessun  grande 
uomo  di  Stato  pot£  in  alcun  tempo  considerare  il  fatto  religioso 
con  indifferenza,  come  materia,  puramente  privata;  senza  dire  che 
lo  Stato  non  pud  disconoscere  nella  religions  la  piu  potente  ener- 
gia  conservatrice  non  data  formia  politica,  non  di  una  organizzazicne 
sociale  ma  dell’ordine  civile  e morale  nel  quale  e desiderabile 
che  ogni  evoluzione  si  compia,  vi  ha  per  lo  Stato  un'altra  valida 

ragione  di  non  abbandonare  affatto  1’ intrusions  religioso  all’arbi- 

2 

trio  privato;  ed  h questa."  "He  insists  that  Tno  monarchy,  no  re- 
public, will  ever  succeed  in  unravelling  the  social  problems  of 
the  future  without  the  co-operation  of  the  religious  sentiment, 

which  in  Italy  can  only  be  riven  by  the  Catholic  Church, T says  Miss 
3 ' 4 

Dora  M.  Jones.  It  is  thus  that  Mr.  L.  Gennari  describes  Pogazzaro  Ss 

idea:  "ITous  luttons  pour  le  triomphe  de  la  vertu:  sans  cela  la 

guerre  serait  une  sottise.  L'homme  ne  meurt  pas  pour  lui-rene,  il 

serait  fou:  il  faut  pour  se  sacrifier  une  idee  qui  depasse  1 ’human - 

ite.  Il  n’est  que  Dieu  qui  puisse  demander  un  pareil  sacrifice. 

C'est  done  lui  que  les  hommes  inconsciemnent  ont  adore,  et  adorent 

1.  Other  good  sermons  of  henedetto  are  to  be  found  in  The  Saint , 
pp.  193,196,218-220 

2.  p.  248 

3.  Contemporary  Review.  V.  99,  p.  564 

4.  Ant oni o Po gaz zar o . p.  211 


- 


. 


. 


97. 


tous  les  jours.”  This  one  short  sentence  of  Miss  Anita  MacMahon 

perhaps  gives  the  best  summary  of  all:  "Foggazaro  regarded  religion 

as  the  great  force  for  good  in  the  world  and  he  shows  us  that  his 

1 

heroes  are  strengthened  and  uplifted  "by  their  faith.” 

To  Fogazzaro , however,  the  mere  worship  in  the  church  and  V 
following  of  dogma  is  not  sufficient  as  it  is  to  Bourget.  He  be- 
lieves that  man  should  live  a Qhrist-like  life  every  day  and  every 
nour . It  is  not  enough  to  enter  the  church,  pray,  confess  one's 
si.io  and  pass  out  to  ao  them  all  over  again.  On  this  account  Fouaz- 
z,aro  valued  to  initiate  a rexorm  in  the  church  to  bring  men  bach  to 
right  living  and. right  thinking  as  well  as  praying  and  practising 

the  rites  and  dogma  of  the  church.  We  have  no  better  example  of 

2 

this  than  in  Benedetto's  long  speech  to  the  Pope:  "'Holy  Father,1 2 

Benedetto  said,  'the  church  is  diseased.  Pour  evil  spirits  have  en- 
tered into  her  body,  to  wage  war  against  the  Holy  Spirit.  One  is 
the  spirit  ox  falsehood.  And  the  spirit  of  falsehood  has  transformed 
itself  into  an  angel  of  light,  and  many  shepherds,  many  teachers, 
in  the  rch,  n 13  pious  and  virtuous  ones  among  the  faithful,  lis- 
ten devoutly  to  this  spirit  of  falsehood,  believing  they  are  listen- 
ing to  an  angel.  Christ  said:  'I  am  the  Truth’.  But  many  in  the  \ 
church,  even  rood  and  pious  souls,  separate  truth  in  their  hearts, 
have  no  reverence  for  that  truth  which  they  do  not  call  'religious, T 
fear  that  truth  will  destroy  truth;  they  oppose  God  to  God,  prefer 
darkness  to  light,  and  thus  also  do  they  train  men.  They  call  them- 

1.  Catholic  World.  V.  93,  p.  517.  See  also  Rumor,  p.  650  and  Col- 
li son-Morley,  p.  345 

2.  The  Saint . pp.  334-342 


. 


■ 


. 


* 


■ 


98 


selves  the  faithful,  and  do  not  understand  how  weak,  how  cowardly 
is  their  faith,  how  foreign  to  them  is  the  spirit  of  the  apostle, 
which  probes  all  things.  Worshippers  of  the  letter,  they  wish  to 
force  grown  men  to  exist  upon  a diet  fit  for  infants,  whidh  diet 

cf~ 

grown  men  refuse.  They  do  not  understand  that  though  God  he  infi- 
nite and  unchangeable,  man's  conception  of  Him  grows  ever  grander 
from  century  to  century,  and  that  the  same  may  be  said  of  all  Di- 
vine Truth*  They  are  responsible  for  a fatal  perversion  of  the 
faith  which  corrupts  the  entire  religious  life;  for  the  Christian, 
who  by  an  effort,  has  bent  his  will  to  accept  what  they  accept,  to 
refuse  what  they  refuse,  believes  he  has  accomplished  the  greatest 
thing  in  God's  service,  whereas  he  has  accomplished  less  than  no- 
thing, and  it  remains  for  him  to  live  his  faith  in  the  word  of 
Christ,  in  the  teachings  of  Christ;  it  remains  for  him  to  live  the 
'fiat  voluntas  tua1  which  is  everything.  Holy  Father,  to-day,  few 
Christians  know  that  religio-  does  not  consist  chiefly  in  the  cling- 
ing of  the  intellect  to  formulas  of  truth,  but  rather  in  actions, 
and  a manner  of  life  in  conformity  with  this  truth,  and  that  the 
fulfilment  of  negative  religious  duties,  and  the  recognition  of  ob- 
ligations towards  the  ecclesiastical  authority,  do  not  alone  cor- 
respond to  true  Faith.  And  those  who  know  this,  those  who  do  not 
separate  truth  in  their  hearts,  those  who  worship  the  God  of  truth, 
who  are  on  fire  with  a fearless  faith  in  Christ,  in  the  church  and 
in  truth--I  know  such  men,  Holy  Father--those  are  striven  against 
with  acrimony,  are  branded  as  heretic's,  are  forced  to  remain  silent, 
and  all  this  is  the  work  of  the  spirit  of  falsehood,  which  for  cen- 
turies has  been  weaving,  in  the  church,  a web  of  traditional  deceit, 
by  means  of  which  those  who  to-day  are  its  servants  believe  they  are 


. 


■ 


■ I I 


99 


serving  God,  as  did  those  who  first  persecuted  the  Christians.  ...Ho- 
ly Father  the  hearts  of  many, of  very  many  priests  and  laymen  belong 
to  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  spirit  of  falsehood  has  not  been  able  to  en- 
ler;:,  not  even  in  the  garb  of  an  angel.  Speak  one  word.  Holy 
Father,  perform  one  action  which  shall  lift  up  those  hearts,  devoted 
to  the  Holy  See  of  the  Roman  Pontiff!  Before  the  whole  church  hon- 
our some  of  these  men,  ...This  also,  Holy  Father!  If  it  be  necessary 
counsel  expounders  and  theologians  to  advance  prudently,  for  science, 
in  order  to  progress,  must  be  prudent;  but  do  not  allow  the  Index  or 
the  Holy  Office  to  condemn,  because  they  are  bold  to  excess,  men  who 
are  an  honour  to  the  church,  whose  minds  are  full  of  truth,  whose 
hearts  are  full  of  Christ,  who  fight  in  defence  of  the  Catholic 
faith!  And  as  your  Holiness  has  said  that  Cod  reveals  His  truths 
even  in  the  secret  souls  of  men,  do  not  allow  external  devotions  to 
multiply,  their  number  is  already  sufficient,  but  recommend  to  the 
pastors  the  practice  and  teaching  of  inward  prayer!  ...If  the  clergy 
neglect  to  teach  the  people  to  pray  inwardly — and  this  is  as  salu- 
tary to  the  soul  as  certain  superstitions  are  contaminating  to  it— 
it  is  the  work  of  the  second  spirit  of  evil,  disguised  as  an  angel 
of  light,  which  infests  the  church.  This  is  the  spirit  of  domination 
of  the  clergy.  Those  priests  who  have  the  spirit  of  domination  are 
ill-pleased  when  souls  communicate  directly  and  in  the  natural  way 
with  Cod,  going  to  Him  for  counsel  and  direction.  Their  aim  is  right- 
eous! Thus  does  the  evil  one  deceive  their  conscience,  which  in  its 
turn  deceives;  their  aim  is  righteous!  But  they  themselves  wish  to 
direct  these  souls,  in  the  character  of  mediator,  and  the  souls  grow 
weary,  timid,  servile.  Perhaps  there  are  net  many  such;  the  worst 
crimes  of  the  spirit  of  domination  are  of  a different  nature.  It  has 


. 

i v 


■ 


. 


* 


— 


100. 


suppressed  the  ancient  and  holy  Catholic  liberty.  It  seeks  to  place 
obedience  first  among  the  virtues,  even  where  it  is  not  exacted  by 
the  lav/s.  It  desires  to  impose  submission  even  where  it  is  not  ob- 
ligatory, retractions  which  offend  the  conscience;  wherever  a group 
of  men  assemble  for  good  works,  it  wishes  to  take  t'  e command,  and 
if  they  decline  to  submit  to  this  command,  all  support  is  withdrawn 
from  them.  It  even  strives  to  carry  religious  authority  outside 
the  sphere  of  religion.  ...Holy  Father,  you  ray  not  yet  have  ex- 
perienced it,  but  this  spirit  of  domination  will  strive  to  exert  its 
influence  over  you,  yourself.  Do  not  yield,  Holy  Father.’  You  are 
the  governor  of  the  church;  do  not  allow  others  to  govern  you;  do 
not  allow  your  power  to  become  as  a glove  for  the  invisible  hands 
of  others.  Have  public  counsellors;  let  the .bishops  be  summons'  of- 
ten to  national  councils;  let  the  people  take  part  in  the  elections 
of  bishops,  choosing  men  who  are  beloved  and  respected  by  the  peo- 
ple; and  let  the  bishops  mingle  with  the  masses,  not  only  to  pass, 
under  triumphal  arches,  to  be  saluted  by  clanging  bells,  but  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  masses,  to  encourage  them  in  the  imitation 
of  Christ.  ...The  third  evil  spirit  which  is  corrupting  the  Church 
does  not  disguise  itself  as  an  angel  of  light,  for  it  well  knows 
it  cannot  deceive;  it  is  satisfied  with  the  garb  of  common  human 
honesty.  This  is  the  spirit  of  avarice.  The  Vicar  of  Christ  dwells 
in  this  royal  palace  at  he  dwelt  in  his  episcopal  palace,  with  the 
pure  heart  of  poverty.  Many  venerable  pastors  dwell  in  the  Church 
with  the  same  heart,  but  the  spirit  of  poverty  is  not  preached  suf- 
ficiently, not  preached  as  Christ  preached  it.  The  lips  of  Christ’s 
ministers  are  too  often  over-oomplaisant  to  those  who  seek  riches. 
There  are  those  among  them  who  bow  t e head  respectfully  before  the 


. 

. 


' 


. 


. V 


. 


■ 


101 


man  who  has  much,  simply  because  he  has  much;  there  are  those  who 
let  their  tongues  flatter  the  greedy,  and  too  many  preachers  of  the 
word,  and  of  the  example  of  Christ  deem  it  just  for  them  to  revel 
in  the  pomp  and  honours  attending  on  riches,  to  cleave  with  their 
souls  to  the  luxury  riches  bring.  Father,  exhort  the  clergy  to  show 
those  greedy  for  gain,  he  they  rich  or  poor,  more  of  that  charity 
which  rebukes.  ...It  is  not  the  work  of  a day,  but  let  us  prepare 
for  the  day—not  leaving  this  task  to  tb_6  enemies  of  Cod  and  of  the 
Church--let  us  prepare  for  the  day  on  which  the  priests  of  Christ 
shall  set  the  example  of  true  poverty;  when  it  shall  be  their  duty 
to  live  in  poverty,  as  it  is  their  duty  to  live  in  chastity;  and 
let  the  words  of  Christ  to  the  Seventy-two  serve  them  as  a guide  in 
this.  Then  the  Lord  will  surround  the  least  of  them  with  such  hon- 
ours, with  such  reverence  as  does  not  to-day  exist  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people  for  the  princes  of  the  Church.  ...The  fourth  spirit  of 
evil  is  the  spirit  of  immobility.  Thi's  is  disguised  as  an  angel  of 
light.  Catholics,  both  ecclesiastics  and  laymen,  who  are  dominated 
by  the  spirit  of  immobility  believe  they  are  pleasing  God,  as  did 
those  zealous  Jews  who  caused  Christ  to  be  crucified.  All  the  cler- 
icals, your  Holiness,  all  the  religious  men  even,  who  to-day  oppose 
progressive  Catholicism,  would  in  all  good  faith,  have  caused  Christ 
to  be  crucified  in  loses"  name.  They  are  worshippers  of  the  past; 
they  wish  everything  to  remain  unalterable  in  the  Church,  even  to 
the  style  of  the  pontifical  language,  even  to  the  great  fans  of  pea- 
cock’s feathers  which  offend  your  Holiness’  priestly  heart,  even  to 
those  senseless  traditions  which  forbid  a cardinal  to  go  out  on  foot, 
and  make  it  scandalous  for  him  to  visit  the  poor  in  their  houses. 

It  is  the  spirit  of  immobility  which,  by  straining  to  preserve  what 


. 


■ 


r j ^ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


102 


it  is  impossible  to  preserve,  exposes  us  to  the  derision  of  unbe- 
lievers; and  this  is  a rreat  sin  in  the  eyes  of  God.  ...Yicar  of 
Christ,  I ask  for  something  else.  ...As  a woman  once  conjured  the 
Pope  to  come  to  Rome,  so  I now  conjure  Your  Holiness  to  come  forth 
from  the  Vatican.  Come  forth.  Holy  Rather;  but  the  first  time,  at 
least  the  first  time,  come  forth  on  an  errand  connected  with  your 
office.  Lazurus  suffers  and  dies  day  by  day;  go  and  visit  LazarusI 
Christ  calls  out  for  succour  in  all  poor,  suffering  human  beings.’” 

Phis  is  Rogazzaro's  idea  of  reform,  (which  most  all  of  his 
1 


characters  preach  ) single  points  of  which  he  reiterates  over  and 
over.  It  is  essentially  a reform  of  the  daily  life  of  laymen  and 
priests  working  in  harmony  with  progressive  Science  but  from  with- 
in the  Church.  Hot  only  does  Rogaszaro  insist  that  no  true  and 


successful  reform  can  come  from  people  outside  of  the  Church  work- 
ing for  the  betterment  of  every-day  life  and  actions,  but  that  the 
Church  must  change  its  attitude  tov/ards  Science,  for  science  not 

only  does  not  disprove  religion  but  often  works  in  harmony  with  it, 

5 

Especially  is  this  true  of  evolution,  which  he  shows  to  be  in  har- 
mony with  religion,  for  it  proves  that  man,  in  his  constant  advance 
toward  perfection,  approaches  the  Divine.  He  also  sees  the  value 

of  spiritualism  even  though  he  condemns  it  in  Luisa  through  Rranco 
who 

savs  he  world  not  wish  to  call  a spirit  .away  from  the  company  of 

4 

God.  ”11  pourra  arriver  jusqu'a  ne  pas  repousser  l’idee  d6  l’an- 

1.  Phe  Saint,  (lj  clergymen,  p.  52;  (2)  Schoolboys,  p.  250;  (3) 

English  rToi  an,  p.  2G1;  The  Sinner,  (4.)  Piero,  pp.  149,  324;  (5) 
Don  Giuseppe,  p.  408;  Phe  Politician,  (6)  Daniele,  p.  152 

2.  Phe  ^aint . pp.  59,  66,  242,  289-290,  306. 

3.  Ror  a complete  presentation  of  this  idea,  see  Ascensioni  Umanc . 

pp.  3-145,  165-185,  221-238. 

4.  Phe  Patriot,  p.  475 


103 


nexion  a I'Eglise  catholique  d'un  laboratoire  de  spiritisms . "says 

1 2 

L.  Gennari.  Gallarti-Scotti,  however,  says  this  period  of  spirit- 
ualism of  Fogazzaro's  was  short  and  during  the  time  when  as  a youth 
he  struggled  in  his  mind  about  his  religious  belief.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  the  essential  feature  of  Fogazzaro Ts  religious  ideas  is  this 

one  of  reform  from  within  the  church  on  the  life  of  the  people.  It 

3 

was  to  be  accomplished  mainly  through  indi riduals  and  bands  of  lay- 

4 

men  v/ho  were,  through  their  own  pure  and  Christ-like  life,  to  lead 
others  back  into  the  paths  of  purity,  poverty  and  self-sacrifice. 

So  many  critics  have  discussed  this  phase  of  Fogazzaro's  religion 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  quote  from  them  all.  We  shall  no- 
tice only  two  or  three  of  the  most  note-worthy  of  these.  Wm.  Roscoe 
5 

Thayer  quotes  him  thus:  "'As  for  leading  a schism,'  he  [FogazzaroJ 

went  on,  'that  would  be  bad  strategy,  even  if  I were  not  a sincere 

.s 

believer  and  no  schimatic.  It  is  only  by  staying  in  the  Church  that 

one  can  hope  to  reform  it.  When  a man  leaves  it,  his  criticism  has 

no  more  weight  with  the  shapers  of  its  policy.  They  merely  say, 

'He  is  a Protestant  or  an  atheist,  and  of  course  he  will  calumniate 

6 

us.”'  Miss  Bora  M.  Jones  gives  this  description  of  it:  "The  idea 

1 . Antoni  o F oga z z ar  o . ~p . 0 9 

2.  La  Vita  di  Antonio  Fogazzaro.  p.  88 

3.  The  Saint , p.  293 

4.  Idem,  p.  294 

5.  Hat ion,  Y.  92,  p.  262 

6.  Contemporary  Review . Y.  99,  p.  567.  Other  critics  in  this  matter 

are  Catholic  World.  Y.  84,  pp.  473,  476;  Idem,  Y.  93,  pp.  516- 

517;  Donadoni,  p.  56;  Edinburgh  Review.  Y.  214,  pp.  269,  286; 
Gennari , pp.  77,  105,  185-186;  Livl  V.  249,  p.  287;  Idem, 

Y.  260,  p.  405;  Ilat ion.  Y.  92, p.  368;  Outlook.  Y.  97,  p.  572; 

Scott i,  pp.  122,  126,  357-358,  384,  399-400,  406,  414,  424-435, 
526;  Living  Age.  Y.  251,  pp.  139,  144-145 . 


' 


■ 


104. 


(II  Santo)  is  that  no  real  reform  in  the  church  can  he  looked  for, 
apart  from  a greater  holiness  of  life  in  her  members;  that  what  is 
ted,  in  short,  is  not  new  institutions  but  new  hearts."  Inis  is 
the  doctrine,  together  with  divineness  of  love,  which  Fogazzaro 
most  preaches.  Bourget , however,  could  never  preach  such  a reform. 
The  whole  feeble  structure  of  his  ideas  is  built  on  the  basis  of 
tradition.  He  would  be  like  the  priests  whom  Pogazzaro  condemns 
for  immobility  were  this  question  ever  brought  before  him.  He  does, 
however,  agree  with  Pogazzaro  that  religion  and  science  are  not  en- 
emies: "Le  Catholicisms  n’a  pas  a §tre  reconcilie  avec  la  Science, 
a laquelle  il  n'a  jamais  ete  oppose,  pour  la  simple  raison  que,  n’- 
ayant  pas  le  m$me  objet,  il  n1 evolve  pas  sur  le  meme  plan. .La. Sci- 
ence demontre  que  les  deux  lois  de  la.  vie,  d’un  bout  a 1 ' autre  de 
I'univers,  sont  la  continuite  et  la  selection,  a quoi  les  democrates 
frangais  r^pliquent  par  le  dogme  absurde  d6  1’egalite  et  ils  don- 
nent  au  present,  sous  sa  forme  la  plus  brut ale,  par  la  souveraine- 
te  du  nombre  tous  les  droits  sur  le  passe.  Les  pretres  de  I’espece 
de  l’abbe  Chanut  et-qui  ne  reconnaissent  pas  cette  contradiction 
sont  les  dupes,  il  faut  avoir  le  courage  de  leur  dire,  des  boniments 
effrontes  de  leurs  adversaires.  Ils  ne  veulent  pas  voir  la  sais- 
issante  coincidence  entre  les  doctrines  politiques  issues  de  If ob - 

servation  positive  et  1' ens eigne me nt  traditionnel  que  la  sagesse  de 

1 

nos  peres  avait  fixe  dans  les  fortes  coutumes  d’autrefois. " Bour- 
get seems  to  have  accepted  all  of  the  church's  teachings  without 
even  thinking  whether  or  not  they  were  right  or  wrong. 

We  even  doubt  if  he  felt  religion  as  religion  very  much.  He 
seems  like  a busy  office  man  who  cares  little  for  the  factors  of 

1 


L'Htape . p.  591.  See  also  pp.  508-509 


* - 

, 

. 


r ■ 


I 


105 


life  except  when  they  aid  or  oppose  his  own  precious  theories. 
Suppose  we  pass  now  to  a consideration  of  our  novelists  in  their  at- 
titude towards  religion  as  such.  Mr.  Fernand,  his  daughter,  l’abbe 

1 ~ 2 
Chanut,  Jean  Monneron;  time . Olier,  and  M.  Clavier s-Grandchamp  are 

the  essentially  religious  characters  of  Bourget's  novels  under  con- 
sideration. All  the  rest  profess  either  a creed  of  justice,  con- 

3 4 5 

science,  stoicism,  Judaism  or  Protestantism.  As  for  Fogazzaro , we 

find  his  religious  characters  much  more  numerous  and  it  would  he 

6 

better  to  name  those  who  are  anti-religious;  Luisa,  with  her  creed 

7 8 

of  justice  and  truth,  Elena  and  Jeanne  with  their  creed  of  rurity 

8 * 9 

and  duty,  Carlino  with  his  atheism  and  the  atheistic  school-hoys. 

Both  men  seem  to  believe  in  conversions,  however,  for  Bourget  leads 

10 

Mine.  Parras  hack  to  religion  through  her  daughter,  Jean  Monneron 

11 

through  his  fear  of  death  and  the  beyond;  Fogazzaro  converts  Piero 

12  ' ^ 13 

through  his  wife,  Jeanne  and  Hoerni  through  Benedetto,  Elena 


1.  L'Etape. 

2.  I * Emigre Z 

3.  LfStape . p.  140 

4.  Idem,  p.  511 

5.  Idem,  p.  149.  Justice  and  conscience  we  have  referred  to  in  our 
discussion  of  morality. 

6.  The  Patriot. 

7.  The  Politician, 

• 8.  Ike  Sinner  and  The  Saint. 

9.  fke  Saint. 

10.  Un  Divorce. 

11 . h'Etape. 

12.  The  Sinner. 

13.  The  Saint. 


106 


1 2 
through  Daniele  and  Maria  through  her  husband.  Of  course  all 

these  people  are  brought  back  to  Catholicism,  for  our  authors  con- 
sider all  other  creeds  as  either  false  or  hopelessly  inferior  to 
Catholicism.  Fogazzaro  believes  too,  that  no  good  Protestant  could 
ever  understand  his  beloved  Catholicism  or  else  he  would  perforce 
be  a Catholic.  Throughout  The  Saint  he  keeps  worrying  about  To 6 mi 
who  is  a Protestant  and  he  finally  ends  by  having  Benedetto  convert 

her  to  Catholicism.  He  preaches  a text  of  tolerance  and  yet  would 

4 

like  to  combine  all  religions  under  Catholicism.  Also,  his  Cathol- 
icism had  a glow  of  mysticism,  so  unusual  to  Protestants,  which 
would  probably  make  him  turn  from  them  the  more.  Benedetto  is  no- 
thing more  than  a humanized  mystic.  Throughout  The  Saint  we  find 

5 

him  in  his  more  exalted  moods,  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  Don 
6 7 8 9 

Giuseppe,  Giovanni  Selva,  Daniele,  and  Franco  are  all  mystics. 

Bourget  seems  little  concerned  with  this  attitude  towards  religion* 

None  of  his  characters  are  swept  away  by  the  feeling  of  the  Divine 

Presence  in  themselves." 

—He  does,  however,  believe  firmly  in  all  the  rites  and  dogmas 

of  the  Catholic  Church,  some  of  which  we  have  just  heard  Benedetto 

10 

coi  - . He  believes  in  a state  of  grace  and  good  will,  in  the 

1.  &he  Politician  ' 

2.  The  Saint 

3.  The  Saint,  p.  259,  276 

4.  Gennari,  p.  104 

5.  pp.  91,116,120,149,154,177,199,275,  279,446,451 

6.  The  Sinner,  p.  179 

7.  The  Saint , p.  44 

8.  The  Politician,  p.  451 

9.  The  Patriot,  p.  261 


10.  Un  Divorce,  pp.  258-259 


107 


1 

confession  which  wipes  out  all  the  sins  of  ,a  dying  1 in,  and  in  the 
2 

communion.  lie  goes  into  detail  about  the  red-tape  necessary  to  per- 
mit Mm®.  Darras  to  re -marry  her  second  husband  after  the  death  of 

5 

the  first  and  about  that  necessary  to  permit  Brigette  Ferrand  to 

4 

marry  an  unbeliever.  Fogazzaro, too , often  brings  in  rites  or  dog- 
ma as  though  they  were  a matter  of  course.  He  gives  us  the  rites 

5 

used  in  making  Benedetto  a layman ; he  defines  the  meaning  of  hier- 
archy as  he  sees  it,  not  just  the  officials  of  the  church  but  all 
6 7 8 

its  members;  he  talks  of  the  Index,  confession,  eating  meat  on  Fri- 
9 10  11 

day,  the  nuptial  mass  of  Franco  and  Luisa*  the  expiation  of  sins 

12 

and  the  blessing  of  the  crops  by  the  priest.  But  for  the  most  part 
Fogazzaro  thought  these  externals  of  religion  rather  useless. 

He  like  Bourget',  however,  did  believe  in  prayer*  particularly 

i 

••  t 

silent  prayer,  and  in  the* future  world.  His  chief  formula  is;  pray 

and  work,  for  prayer  is  not  enough  alone.  We  find  this  constant 

13 

reference  to  prayer  throughout  his  works.  Whenever  they  are  in 

lT  TTn  Blvor ce".  gpl  307 

2.  Lionnet , p.  185 

3.  Un  Divorce,  p.  390 

4.  I 'It a, e . pp.  502-503 

5.  Fhe  Saint . p.  151 

6.  Idem,  pp.  289-291 

7.  Idem,  p.  341 

8.  Idem,  p.  455 

9.  Hie  Sinner,  p.  152 

10.  Fhe  Patriot,  p.  72 

11.  Ihe  Sinner,  p.  360 

12.  Flie  Politician,  p.  75 

15.  Fho  3ai  ■: , pp.  85,219,234,317;  Fhe  Sinner . pp.  386,414;  Fhe  Pa- 
triot ,pp. 575-574 ,411,42*5 ,427-428  ;Fhe  Foliiician.  pp.  34,263-  264 ,450 


. 


' 


* ■ ' •*  • 


. . 


t 


/ 


I 


> 


108 


deep  trouble  or  doubt  his  religious  char  cters  always  find  solace 
in  prayer  and  their  prayers  are  usually  answered.  Bourget's  per- 
sonages do  not  pray  so  often;  they  are  usually  too  busy  with  other 
things.  He  does  condemn  Kme.  Darras  for  expecting  her  prayers  to  be 
answered  at  once  when  she,  through  her  own  fault,  had  gone  so  deep- 
ly into  sin.  Jean  IvlonneronTs  first  prayer  seems  worthy  of  note 
2 

to  him,  perhaps  because  it  serves. to  show  so  plainly  to  Julie  her 

brother’s  conversion  to  Catholicism.  As  to  the  future  world  Bour- 

3 

net’s  remarks  are  just  as  brief,  but  we  see  quite  clearly  that  he 

believed  therein.  Fogazzaro  goes  into  the  matter  more  fully  and 

really  seems  to  enjoy  describing  it  and  yearning  for  it.  Here  are 

two  of  his  most  striking  definitions  of  it:  "’that  probably  human 

souls  found  themselves  in  a state  and  in  surroundings  regulated,  as 

in  this  life,  by  natural  laws;  where,  as  also  in  this  life,  the  fu- 

4 

ture  can  be  divined  only  by  indications,  and  without  certainty.”’ 

and  this  ™I  believe,'  he  replied,  'that  until  the  death  of  our 

planet,  our  future  life  will  be  one  of  labour  upon  it,  and  that  all 

those  minds  which  aspire  to  truth,  to  unity,  will  meet  there,  and 

5 6 7 

labour  together.”’  Franco  and  Panicle  (of  Fogazzaro' s lay  char- 
acters) sire  the  strongest  believers  in  the  future  life.  With  this 

8 

striking  category  of  souls  made  by  Gilardoni,  let  us  close  this 

1 . TJn  Pi  v or  c e . p p . 205-209 

2.  L'Etape.  pp.  442-443 

3.  Un  Divorce . pp.  315-316;  I 'Ft ape . p.  413 

4.  -he  Saint,  p.  22 . 

5.  Idem,  p.  268 

6.  The  Patriot,  pp.  185,  411 

7.  Iho  Politician,  pp.  383,452 


8.  fhe  Patriot,  pp.  168-169 


■ ' • 

: 


* 


109 


1 

discussion  of  religion  in  its  details;  "'There  are  souls,’  said 
he,  'that  openly  deny  a future  life,  and  live  according. to  their 
opinions,  solely  for  the  present  life.  Such  are  few  in  number. 

Then  there  are  souls  that  pretend  to  believe  in  a future  life  and 
live  entirely  for  the  present.  These  are  far  more  numerous.  There 
are  souls  that  do  not  think  about  the  future  life,  but  live  so  that 
they  may  not  run  too  great  a risk  of  losing  it,  if,  after  all,  it 
should  be  found  to  exist.  These  are  more  numerous  still. 
therG  are  souls  that  really  do  believe  in  the  future  life,  and  di- 
vide their  thoughts  and  actions  into  two  categories,  which  are  gen- 
erally at  war  with  each  other;  one  is  for  heaven,  the  other  for 
earth.  There  are  very  many  such.  And  then  there  are  souls  that 
live  entirely  for  the  future  life,  in  which  they  believe.  These  are 
very  few,  and  Signora  Teresa  (Luisd's  mother)  was  one  of  them."1 

Conclusion. 

In  concluding  this  study  let  us  try  to  summarize  Bourget  and 
Fogazzaro,  in  their  general  attitude  towards  morality  nd  religion. 
Bourget  believed  that  morality  depended  on  following  the  traditions 
and  laws  worked  out  by  the  generations  before  us,  and,  placing  re- 
ligion as  one  of  the  most  perfect  examples  of  this  tradition,  he 
believed  that  it  should  serve  as  a moral  as  well  as  a spiritual 
guide  in  life.  Fogazzaro  believed  that  a reformed  religion,  based 
on  the  life  of  Christ,  with  its  chief  aim  to  purify  and  ennoble 
every  day  life,  should  be  used  as  a guide  for  right  action  and  that 

1.  For  critics  opinions  see  Donadoni , p.  28;  Gennari , pp.  197,207; 

Scotti,  pp.  135,264;  also  see  Discorsi . pp.  142-144 


- 


. . 


110. 


the  Bible  should  serve  as  the  moral  code  of  the  world.  Both  men 
stand  together  in  their  fight  for  purer  moral  ideas  and  for  reli- 
gion as  the  basis  of  those  ideas.  Bourget , however,  in  his  love  of 
the  aristocracy  and  of  tradition  looks  towards  the  past  and,  though 
he  feels  the  modern  progressive  movements,  is  reactionary  and  out 
of  harmony  with  them;  while  Fogazzaro  looks  forward  and  tries  to 
adapt  the  Homan  Catholic  religion  to  present  day  ideas  and  needs 
by  recalling  it  to  its  early  simplicity,  and  to  make  it  progress  in 
harmony  with  the  development  of  philosophical  and  social  progress. 
Also  in  his  sympathy  with  mankind  and  his  democracy  wherein  no  love 
of  class  distinction  enters. he  stands  apart  from  Bourget,  who  be- 
lieved in  the  aristocracy  as  a social  necessity  and  saw  little  of 
value  in  the  bourgeois  and  -peasants. 


* 


' 


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111 


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f 


117 


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4.  ,zarof^  ~h  • ~ . E Ion.  Y.  9 , 

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2 1 . Rumor , S eh  as  t i ano 

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22.  Scotti--  See  Gallarati-Scotti 

23.  Simholi,  Raffaele 

Togazzaro  .and,TThe  Saint V tr.  by  Elsie  Lathrop,  Put- 
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24 . 3 . K. 


Topaz  cure , Ration.  Y.  72,  pp.  8-9 


119 


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Foyaszaro's  I*  . -air.t,  ‘ ;n,  V.  £ , pj  . ' -71 

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27.  Idem 

Antonio  azza cc .1  His  Hast  r , os , I n t r o due  1 

to  The  Saint ; see  references  to  The  Saint . 

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1A  . . c Italian  Literature.  Boston,  1914. 

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in  Itali ~ ~~ovel.  Daniel  Cortis.  Academy , Y . " ~ . 
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